


Somebody That I Used to Know

by BirdOfHermes



Series: The Thirst Trials [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Angst and Feels, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, Clothed Sex, Confessions, Cunnilingus, Dom Loki (Marvel), Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Face-Sitting, First Time, Karaoke, Love Confessions, Makeup Sex, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Odin (Marvel)'s Bad Parenting, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, POV First Person, Reader-Insert, Rough Sex, Sassy, Sloppy Makeouts, Songfic, Teasing, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-10-27 01:28:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20752073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdOfHermes/pseuds/BirdOfHermes
Summary: Your childhood friend, Thor, is getting married to the love of his life, and he wants you to come to the wedding. You'd love to go, but for one thing: it's been six years since you've seen his brother, Loki, your ex-best friend, and consequently, the guy whose heart you broke when you left. It's going to be one hell of a wedding. Emphasis on hell.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I can't really say where this idea came from. After all, I'm sure it's been done to death, so shame on me. But I thought it would actually be fun to write a Loki AU where the Reader has an actual history with him rather than meeting him for the first time. I hope it'll be fun for you all as well.

_But you didn’t have to cut me off_

_Make out like it never happened_

_And we were nothing_

_I don’t even need your love_

_But you treat me like stranger and that feels so rough_

_No, you didn’t have to stoop so low_

_Have your friends collect your records and then change your number_

_Guess that I don’t need that, though_

_Now you’re just somebody that I used to know…_

_-“Somebody that I Used to Know” by Gotye_

“Guess what, honey bunny? I’m getting married!”

What should have been a joyful moment between me and one of my closest childhood friends instead became a lump of anxious weight in my stomach.

At first, I didn’t know what to say, but then I mentally kicked myself into actual words. “Thor, that’s amazing! Congratulations!”

“Yes, I’m so excited,” he gushed proudly. “I can’t believe she said yes! I was so nervous there was a pool of sweat underneath my dress shoes by the time I got the bloody words out. But she loved the ring and she hasn’t stopped smiling since, and neither have I.”

“That’s wonderful, Thor,” I cooed. “Seriously, I’m so happy you and Hildy will be tying the knot. No two people are more perfect for each other.”

“Mm, that’s debatable,” he said, his tone a little mysterious, and my stomach clenched as I knew what was coming. “We’ve planned it for spring, so that leaves about six months of planning. I would ask you to go, but that’s redundant. You’re going and that’s final.”

“Thor,” I said with the utmost patience. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Honey bunny,” he said in warning. “You are coming to my wedding. I do not want to hear a single excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse,” I argued. “I have a solid reason for not going and you know it.”

Thor sighed. “It’s been six years.”

“I know it has,” I muttered morosely.

“You can’t let him stop you,” he insisted. “No one said that you had to reconcile. Come, drink, dance, party with me and Hildy. She loves you nearly as much as I do. I promise you will not have to even speak to him if you do not wish to. I swear it.”

“You can’t promise that, Thor. You know you can’t. He’s a wild card. He’s irrational and confrontational and he holds a grudge better than anyone you know.”

“He is my little brother and therefore he is beholden to my sibling authority,” Thor said severely. “And if he does not behave himself, I’ll pitch him into the Atlantic. I swear that he will be on his best behavior.”

“He doesn’t have best behavior.”

“I will make him have it.” Thor paused, and that soft, almost familial tone entered his rumbling baritone voice. “Please, honey bunny. I love you. I want you to be there.”

My gut jerked. Damn him. He knew how to hit me where it hurt. He knew he was the only person in the world who could pull this card on me—that childhood friend card that would curse me until the end of days if I ignored it.

I sighed and cursed under my breath. “Fine. I’ll go. But he’s not going to like it. He might threaten not to come if I’m going, you know.”

“He’ll be there,” Thor assured me. “He may not fear me, but he certainly fears Hildy. I have more announcement calls to make, so I’ll text you the details once I have them. Thank you for doing this, honey bunny. I do mean it. I love you to pieces.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up, teddy bear.”

He laughed, a rich, warm sound I’d heard all my life. “Goodbye, my darling.”

“Bye.” I hung up and slumped back against the couch. I shut my eyes and breathed out, “Fuck” with as much lament as I could fit into that one word.

Six months.

I had six months to prepare to face the man who gave me his heart and I stepped all over it.

Six months to prepare to face the God of Mischief.

Loki.

* * *

Time didn’t fly by. The deadline to Thor’s wedding moved along at a steady pace. I didn’t sweat it much until about a month out, when Brunhilde sent me the bridesmaid dress to try on after I had sent in my measurements. Luckily, Brunhilde wasn’t like those basic brides who felt they needed to make their wedding party look truly hideous so she’d look “prettier.” She’d chosen navy as the accompanying colors, so we were all in elegant silk navy gowns. I’d stared at myself in the mirror and gulped as I thought about what I’d be doing in just thirty short days. Hoo boy.

Truth be told, I had no real problem with weddings. They were expensive and sometimes tedious, but nothing to sweat most of the time. However, this was the first time I’d been part of the procession. The wedding planner kept us all up to date on scheduling and rehearsals via emails and a Facebook group, since not everyone still lived on the east coast to show up to practice. It was simple and not a huge affair, with only about fifty guests not counting family.

And the family bit was what made me nervous.

Thor and Loki’s mother Frigga was an angel. Delightful, witty, charming, disarming, and kind. She’d immediately accepted me the first time the boys brought me home to meet her. I’d met the boys when I was just an awkward little sixth grader, lonely and too shy to make friends with my classmates. Thor was two grades ahead of me, and adopted me instantly, fond of my penchant for sarcasm, dubbing me his honey bunny, whilst I dubbed him teddy bear. He’d introduced me to Loki, who shared classes with me, but was also rather introverted and didn’t talk much except to answer questions. After that, we hit it off, and I was hanging out with them on a weekly basis all through the years and until high school graduation. Frigga had loved having me over for tea and homemade scones, fussing at me for being so self-deprecating, thanking me for keeping her rambunctious sons in check.

Whereas their father…well…the best thing about him was that he tended to stay busy with work. I’d barely seen him in all the years I knew them. And from what they told me, that was a good thing. I rarely saw him, but the aftermath in his wake had been enough that I was happy to keep it that way.

To try and reduce the awkwardness, I’d gotten a hotel room rather than taking Thor up on his offer to stay at the house. Upon his insistence, I agreed to stay for the three-day weekend rather than just a night so I could participate in the before and after wedding activities. Tonight we had the rehearsal dinner, so I’d dressed nicely in a black dress with a nice lace pattern over the back and had comfortable flats rather than high heels.

A spring wedding meant it was nice outside, but no one wanted to be bothered with bugs, so the venue was indoors but we were inside a park. If people wanted to walk around as the sunset, they could. I walked up the cobblestone path to the reception hall, its archway inviting me in with blue Morning Glories, and chuckled to myself as I heard death metal pouring out from the speakers. Thor and Brun’s wedding would be anything but a typical wedding, after all.

I made it about four steps before I heard a booming voice shout, “HONEY BUNNY!”

Impact tremors shook my feet. I tried to suppress a smile to no avail as Thor bounded towards me and scooped me up in his burly arms, yanking me right off the ground and spinning me in circles. He squeezed me with plenty of affection and then dropped me gently. He then proceeded to pepper kisses all over my cheeks while I laughed and pretended to rebuff him. “Thor! You’re gonna smear my makeup!”

“You’re wearing makeup?” he demanded incredulously. “Since when does my honey bunny wear makeup?”

“I’m a friggin’ bridesmaid, dude,” I told him, an eyebrow raised. “I’ll have to be in a zillion pictures. Of course I’m wearing makeup.”

He held my arms out and glanced me over, grinning from ear to ear. “You are a vision, my darling. I can’t believe you got all dressed up for little ole me.”

I rolled my eyes. “I got dressed up because your future wife would murder me for showing up to her wedding in sweatpants. Mostly because that’s what she wants to do, but you won’t let her.”

Thor pouted then. “It would be most improper.”

“Screw improper,” a flat female voice said from my right. “I’d rather be comfortable.”

I grinned and turned to Brunhilde, hugging her. “Right? This beauty stuff is so overrated.”

She was short, but stacked with muscles that in no way made her unfeminine. She wore a short black dress as well, and combat boots, and heavy eyeliner, but she managed to make herself look like a badass instead of a Hot Topic Goth. Silver glinted all down her ear lobes and on her wrists. She was as terrifying and beautiful as a Bengal tiger. Everyone called her either Brun or Brunhilde except for Thor, who always called his beloved muffin Hildy, for some reason. And he was definitely the only one allowed to do that, for she hated it if anyone else used that nickname.

Brun eyed me the way that Thor had and smiled. “That being said, you are a total snack in that dress, honey bunny.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “Don’t you start too.”

She chuckled. “Go get a drink and come sit with us. I want to get caught up.”

She headed back towards their large, heavily decorated table at the center of the wide dance hall. Thor looped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple as we headed over to the bar. There was a tall, thin bartender working and he had a friendly smile. “What can I get you, gorgeous?”

“Amaretto sour,” I told him, and it was in stereo, as Thor chimed in. He winked and I pinched him, which made him laugh. He ordered another beer and hugged me to his side as we waited.

“I’m so glad you came,” he said. “Really. I know it’s inconvenient, but you’re important to me, and I missed you greatly.”

My heart fluttered. Thor was good at doing that to me. The bartender passed me my drink and I took a long sip, and then said, “Shut up, you old sap.”

He laughed again. “Old? How dare you. I am not old. I am wise.”

I snorted. “Compared to what? A sea cucumber?”

He stuck his tongue out as we walked over to the table. “Even so. Age before beauty, honey bunny.”

Thor’s father sat beside his wife Frigga, talking softly to each other and occasionally greeting the guests as they walked in. They were at the furthest end of the table where the immediate family sat, and I greeted both when it was my turn. He gave me a smile and nod while Frigga drew me in with an affectionate hug that warmed me to my core.

“We’ve missed you, dearie,” she said, brushing my hair behind one ear. “I’m so glad you could join us.”

I held her hands and squeezed them slightly. “Thanks for having me. It’s going to be a beautiful wedding.”

“Yes, it will indeed.” Frigga hesitated. “I…I do understand that it might be a little uncomfortable for you, and we appreciate that you still came.”

“It’ll be alright,” I assured her. “I’m a big girl now. I can handle him.”

“Handle who, exactly?” a rolling purr of a male voice said from behind me.

I froze in place.

I hadn’t heard that voice in six years.

I took a long, deep breath and turned around, folding my arms over my chest. “Hello, Loki.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rehearsal dinner and ensuing celebration begins.

Loki had grown up since the last time I'd seen him.

Well. At least physically speaking.

We'd both been skinny little seventeen-year-olds the last time we saw each other. I hadn't been much to look at, just an average girl with a sharp tongue. I'd filled out somewhere between eighteen and nineteen and had grown a couple inches as well. Unfortunately, Loki had been constantly tormented in school for not being as brawny, tan, and handsome as his older brother. He'd been pale, too, no matter how much sun he took in, notable only for those entrancing sea-green eyes of his.

Loki stood at an impressive 6'3'' and he too had definitely filled out. His frame flowed with strength and lithe agility, the build of a runner or a tennis player. His high, pronounced cheekbones drew the most attention aside from his glittering eyes, sloping towards his lips and sharp chin. His hair was the longest I'd ever seen it, just above his collar, and slicked back from his forehead. He wore an impeccable navy suit with a tie that matched the other groomsmen--a nice periwinkle blue. His shoes were polished to a high sheen and he wore a Tag Heuer on his wrist. Apparently, both time and hormones had been good to Loki.

Just as I had done a brief scan of him, I could see him doing the same thing, and my skin prickled everywhere his gaze traveled. He stood much too close, stooped slightly to tower over me, his face carefully neutral, but I knew him well enough to know that meant nothing. Loki had a hair trigger temper. He could appear calm and then anguished and then vengeful in only seconds apart from each other.

We stared at one another in a brief silence, neither person moving, just glaring into each other's eyes as if trying to see our opponent's soul.

"Hello, darling," Loki said finally, and reached for me.

I flinched.

Something of a victorious smirk slid across his lips as he gripped my wrist, lifted my hand, and kissed the back of it. The skin on the back of my hand crackled with a sudden static pop that raised the hairs on my arms. It stung almost as much as hearing him call me "darling" again after so long. I'd once joked as a kid that no one else should be allowed to use that word but him, for even as a teenager, Loki had that toe-curling baritone voice, though now it was smoother, less raw.

To someone who didn't know him, it would seem a formal, but affectionate gesture. It wasn't. It was a veiled insult. His lips burned like a red-hot brand on my skin. Memories of those lips swarmed my mind. I had to brush them away like stinging gnats in order to focus. I'd voluntarily walked right into this game of cat and mouse.

And I sure as hell wasn't the mouse in this scenario.

"You look well," he continued once he'd let me go. "Very chic, very sophisticated."

He appraised my dress. "Calvin Klein?"

"Ralph Lauren, actually," I said.

He nodded once. "An excellent choice. It will not show blood if you choose to rip another man's heart out and eat it in front of him."

"Loki!" Frigga hissed. He tossed her a bored look and then a thin, perfunctory smile.

"Mother."

"Frigga," I said gently, glancing at her. "It's okay."

I faced Loki. "I know you're expecting an apology."

I reached up and touched his cheek, caressing it lovingly.

Then I grabbed his ear and twisted it. Hard.

"Gah!" Loki cried, and hunched down to my height as I yanked on it, his handsome face contorted with pain.

"Let's get one thing straight, Loki," I said calmly. "If you cause a scene or disrupt this wedding in any way, I will kick your testicles so far up your body that you'll be able to wear them as earrings. I don't care what you think about me being here. This isn't about me. It's about Brunhilde and your brother getting married. So why don't you have a scotch, a smile, and shut the hell up before I shut you up?"

With that, I let go and marched over to my seat between Brunhilde and Thor. I sat and drained my amaretto sour in one go. I felt Loki's seething glare like a wall of fire. He stalked away towards the bar, rubbing his sore ear and muttering uncharitable things about me. Just as well. It couldn't have gone any other way, really.

"Well," Thor said with a sigh, shaking his head as he watched his brother. "This ought to be a fun couple of days."

"Just remember," I said mildly as I stole his beer and drained that too. "You asked for this, teddy bear."

"Yes, I'm afraid I did, honey bunny. God help us all."

The rest of the guests filtered in, and we got things started. Thor and Brun welcomed everyone warmly and thanked them for attending. We were served dinner--lamb chops or baked chicken, roasted asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes, or grilled portabella mushrooms for the vegetarians, and it was fabulous--and then the lovers gave everyone little gift bags to thank us. The toasts began not long after that, and they started off classy with Frigga, and then Fandral, and then as the night progressed, they got a little sillier and more fun since people had been steadily drinking since they arrived. Volstagg straight up roasted Thor during his toast, who absolutely loved it, as did Brunhilde, and I was choking on the groom's cake by the time he was done. The whole thing wrapped up at nightfall, and everyone over forty headed back to their hotels while the twenty-somethings set about scheming.

Rather than hitting a club, as Brunhilde hated dancing, they decided on karaoke. I tried my best to flee, but Thor had been at my side pretty much all evening, so he wrapped one beefy arm around my waist and dragged me into the car with him and the others before I could protest.

And strangely enough, Loki tagged along as well.

He and I sat in the back as Thor and Brun bickered good-naturedly over the radio. He'd only been a few chairs from me at dinner, silent as a gargoyle, the brother of the groom somehow seeming unaffected by the festivities around them. I'd seen him exchange quiet but fond words with Frigga intermittently, and it made sense. Loki had always been closest with her. She understood him the best. Thor did make tremendous efforts, of course, but Loki rebuffed him more often than not.

"I thought you do not sing," Loki murmured to me, too quiet for the others to hear.

"I don't," I said without looking up from my phone. "I thought you didn't either."

"You are correct. However, watching a drunken Thor make a fool of himself singing Billy Joel is at least worth the already painful evening I've had to endure."

A smile threatened my lips. He had a point.

"I did not see your parents."

"They're on a cruise, and they had already booked it when Thor sent the wedding date. They sent their regards. And money. A boatload of it, in fact."

"Guilt is very profitable, it seems."

I tried not to scowl. "Sometimes."

The ghost of a smile touched the edge of his lips, but that was all I got for the remainder of the ride. We made it to the karaoke bar, and after an onslaught of drinks, I managed to actually have a good time watching the social butterflies known as my childhood gang rip through half the damned karaoke menu, gleeful and silly and having the time of their lives despite the fact that some of them couldn't carry a tune if they had a wheelbarrow. Thor's singing voice actually wasn't half bad, but he tended to just sing too loudly to be melodic. Brun's low, honeyed voice lent itself to slow jazz songs, so they balanced each other out in the end.

Unfortunately, Thor and Brun insisted that everyone sing at least one song, and they'd cajoled everyone but me and Loki. Thor did his patented teddy bear pout, which by now was ineffective on me, but then Brun said she'd wallop me, and I knew she could punch a hole in concrete, so I trudged up to the mic and flipped through songs until I found something in my singing register. Which, honestly, wasn't much. I could get by, but I sure as hell was no songbird.

The opening chant to the Imogen Heap song started. I felt Loki's eyes on me, hot as coals. I was already about three drinks past my limit, and to hell with it. As much as I'd been trying to appear in control of my emotions, seeing Loki again, all handsome and raw, touched a nerve.

So I decided I'd touch one right back.

_"Doing everything by halves,"_ I sang. _"Got a real flair with excuses. Meeting someone at the bar, where loose ends still have uses."_

I pushed my hair out of my face and gripped the mic.

_"It's complicated_

_This time I think it could be_

_Triangulated_

_It could be just what we need_

_So whatcha say we give it up and walk away_

_We're overrated anyway..."_

Loki drank his sake, throwing it back, his sea-green eyes burrowing beneath my skin, peeling off layer after layer. I didn't give a damn. Let him look. Let him feel for once.

_"We're kissing without kissing_

_Got it down to a fine art_

_Love's supposed to keep you young and frisky_

_But we grew up and wide apart_

_Not now, not ever, no, it's never a good time_

_How will the good times ever roll on?_

_Comparing photos, then and now, now and then_

_Just wondering where it all went wrong_

_It's complicated_

_This time I think it could be_

_Triangulated_

_It could be just what we need_

_So whatcha say we give it up and walk away?_

_Nothing to salvage anyway!"_

Loki sat back in his seat, his lashes lowered over his hellfire eyes, licking his lips as he stared at me. I swung my hips to the rhythm.

_"Oh, oh, oh_

_None of the above_

_Oh, oh, oh_

_None of the above_

_Oh, oh, oh_

_None of the above!_

_Oh, oh, oh!"_

I flicked my hair out of my face again and swayed with the beat.

_"It's complicated_

_This time I think it could be_

_Triangulated_

_It could be just what we need_

_So whatcha say we give it up and walk away?_

_We're overrated anyway_

_It's complicated_

_This time I think it could be_

_Triangulated _

_It could be just what we need_

_So whatcha say we give it up and walk away?_

_Nothing to salvage anyway!"_

The song ended. I'd brought the house down, at least among my friends. They roared with applause and whistling. Loki didn't move from the spot. Oh, if looks could kill.

Thor helped me down from the stage and gave me another bear hug. "I don't know why you don't like to sing, honey bunny! You killed it!"

"Mm," I said, purposely not glancing at Loki. "Guess I did, didn't I?"

Thor beamed and started to turn to his brother. "Alright, you grumpy bastard, how much am I gonna have to pay you to--"

Loki brushed right past him and climbed onto the stage.

All of our jaws dropped to the floor in unison.

A mournful symphony kicked up. The entire bar went silent in reverence. I slid limply into my seat, my stomach plummeting into the tiles as Loki's silken voice began lowly singing.

_"And it starts sometime around midnight_

_Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two_

_As you stand under the bar lights_

_And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while_

_And the piano's this melancholy soundtrack to her smile_

_In that white dress she's wearing, you haven't seen her for a while..."_

The guitar kicked in, and it might as well have socked me in the jaw, for how much it bloody hurt. Loki stared at me like a panther closing in on its prey.

_"But you know that's she's watching_

_She's laughing, she's turning, she's holding her tonic like a crutch_

_The room suddenly spinning, she walks up and asks how you are_

_So you can smell her perfume_

_You can see her lying naked in your arms..."_

The music slowly built, filling the room corner to corner.

_"And so there's a change in your emotions_

_And all these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind_

_Of the curl of your bodies like two perfect circles entwined_

_And you feel hopeless and homeless and lost in the haze of the wine..."_

The music climbed even higher. Loki's gaze burned into mine.

_"Then she leaves with someone you don't know_

_But she makes sure you saw her_

_She looks right at you and bolts_

_As she walks out the door, your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes_

_And when your friends say, 'what is it'_

_You look like you've seen a ghost..."_

Loki raked his hair back out of his eyes, and the rawness in his deep voice pushed through, and just like the lead singer of the song, he's almost shouting in the final part.

_"Then you walk under street lights_

_And you're too drunk to notice that everyone is staring at you_

_You don't care what you look like_

_The world is falling around you_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You know that she'll break you in two!"_

The bar exploded with the sound of the song's dynamic finish, and it wasn't until it died down that I felt the hot tears welling up in my eyes.

Loki exited the stage, walked over, and picked up his suit jacket. He turned to show his profile and lifted an eyebrow at the stunned partygoers.

"Are we done now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say it felt like lightning struck when I was scrolling through my playlist to decide what songs for Reader and Loki, and I feel like I hit it right on the first try. That's rare. And also, mm, Loki singing Airborne Toxic Event, yum, would pay to see that in a heartbeat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You deal with the fallout from last night's activities, and they are less than pretty.

_If I woke up to a tap on my window, I knew that I was in for a bad night._

_I rolled over onto my stomach and squinted through my disheveled hair in the direction of the window across my bedroom along the far wall. My parents had done me a true solid in letting me have the basement rather than forcing me to be upstairs. It gave me my own faux privacy, and I always had a warning upon their approach thanks to the creaky stairs. I scooped my hair out of my face and scooted to the edge with a yawn. I walked over to the window, undid the latch, and slid it open, blinking blearily at my best friend._

_“That bad?”_

_Loki gave me a grim smile and nodded. “That bad.”_

_I jerked my head to one side and he climbed into my room. We’d done this dance plenty of times by now, but more frequently as of the last several months. I shut the window and locked it again. “What’d you do this time?”_

_“Caught me sneaking back in,” Loki groused as he pulled off his t-shirt. “We had it out.”_

_“Shit,” I said, handing him the one I’d kept in a drawer for him to sleep in. Really, he had been doing this a lot lately, enough that I just gave up and dedicated a whole drawer to him. My mom had been cleaning and asked about it and I lied through my teeth that men’s clothing was comfier than women’s. Which, come to think of it, wasn’t that much of a lie. Sometimes it was. “What did the ogre say?”_

_“If you can’t follow the rules of this house, then maybe you shouldn’t be here,” Loki snarled, wrestling into the shirt and then kicking off his shoes. I politely turned as he changed into the pajama bottoms I’d also given him. “So I took his advice and left.”_

_“Fucking hell,” I sighed. “Prick. Was Thor home?”_

_“No, he’s not home from uni this weekend, or he’d have ridden in on his usual white horse to intercede on my behalf.” Loki snorted. “As if that makes it any better.”_

_“Loki,” I chided. “He tries. He really does want to help, even if he’s not always successful.”_

_“Trust you to take his side,” he said dryly. _

_I flicked him in the forehead. “We’re all on the same side. It’s the ‘your father is a shitty parent’ side.”_

_Loki’s shoulders shook with exhausted laughter. “Right.”_

_I cupped his face in both hands. His smile faded and something wounded shone through in his eyes for a second. I ran my thumb over one cheekbone. “You’re gonna be fine, Loki. Just fine. One more year and you’re out on your own, doing whatever the hell or whoever the hell you want.”_

_“Whoever?” he echoed. Then he gave me one of those serpentine grins of his and slipped his arms around me. “I had some thoughts about that.”_

_“Lech,” I accused, pinching his cheek, and he chuckled. “You grow a few inches and get some bass in your voice and suddenly you’re Casanova. Don’t know why I put up with you.”_

_“I’m your prince,” he said, rubbing my sides. “You’d be lost without me, darling.”_

_I rolled my eyes. “I’d get a regular sleeping pattern without you.”_

_“Probably.” He kissed my forehead. “Thank you for letting me stay.” _

_“Always,” I murmured back, smiling a little. “Now get in the bed, God of Mischief.”_

_He let out a wistful groan. “How I have dreamt of hearing you say that, darling.”_

_“Shut up.” I gave him a shove and he chuckled again, climbing into my bed and kicking the sheets to one side. I flopped in beside him and it only took a half a second for him to snake an arm around me and drag me against his chest. He heaved another tired sigh and kissed my shoulder, burying his face in my hair. My heart fluttered and I told it to shut up and go to sleep._

_“You changed your shampoo,” he said after a while._

_“That doesn’t sound creepy at all, Loki.”_

_“Oh, blow it out of your arse,” he scoffed. “I know every bloody thing about you. So what if I noticed?”_

_“I didn’t know hair sniffing was part of the usual best friend activities.”_

_“I meant that as a compliment, woman. You smell nice.”_

_“Of course I do. Why else would you be in bed with me?” The second it slipped out, I wanted to smack myself in the forehead. _

_“Hmm,” Loki said, nuzzling the sensitive spot behind my ear. “I can think of a reason or two.”_

_I pinched his forearm and he laughed quietly. “Come on, you’re going to pretend as if you haven’t thought about it before?”_

_“Yes,” I said crisply. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”_

_“Chicken.”_

_“Go to sleep, lover boy.”_

_He shifted just a bit, laying his lips right next to my ear. “I shall. And when I do, I will dream of you. It’s always you, darling.”_

_Again, my heart fluttered. And again, I ignored it. I shut my eyes and muttered, “Idiot” before I drifted off to sleep._

My fucking head was _killing_ me.

A nice, sharp, throbbing hangover headache pounded at my temples, down my neck. It woke me right out of the dream of an old memory and I smothered my face in the pillow and groaned out my frustration. See, this was why I never came home. Partying with Thor would always result in a hangover. I should have just stuck to a couple drinks instead of recklessly guzzling a few more after Loki’s goddamn performance last night. I couldn’t even remember anything after that, in fact.

“Why?” I moaned pitifully. “Why did you come to this wedding?”

“I didn’t have much choice,” came the sudden reply from across the room.

I jolted upward, which was a stupid move. It felt like my brain smashed into the front of my skull at one hundred miles an hour, but I had to make sure I wasn’t still asleep. I wasn’t.

Loki was standing next to my couch, his clothing from last night still on, rumpled to hell, his face drowsy and mildly annoyed. I wished he looked unattractive like that, but he didn’t; he looked like breakfast, lunch, and dinner, waiting to be devoured. Damn it.

“What the fuck, Loki?” I demanded, self-consciously pulling the sheets higher over my bare legs. “Why are you in my hotel room?”

“You can thank my brother for that,” he said, crossing the room to the coffee maker just as it dinged. “You were barely conscious after your last few drinks and in no shape to get yourself into your hotel room. Thor told me to drop you off in your room and then he’d take me home, but then he abandoned me.”

“Then why didn’t you take an Uber home?” I spat.

Loki poured the coffee into two mugs and brought one over to me, setting it on the nightstand. “Because he charged me with making sure you did not have any alcohol poisoning. You passed out as soon as I got you on the bed. There was a chance that you’d drown in your own vomit during the night.”

He sneered at me then. “And I did not want to miss that.”

I rolled my eyes. “God, you are still so full of shit, Loki.”

I picked up the coffee and took a very small sip. It was certainly nothing to write home about, but a welcome reprieve nonetheless. I picked up my phone and texted Thor, “You’re dead fucking meat, buster” and then glared up at Loki. “Turn around.”

“Why?”

“I need to get up and this dress is short enough as it is.”

He gave me a thin smile. “I’ve already seen you naked, lest you forget.”

“Yeah, once, six years ago. The upholstery has changed since then. Now turn the hell around.”

He chuckled and slunk back over to the couch. I scooted off the bed, tugging the hem down as much as I could, and headed over to my bag. “I am obviously not going to die suffocating in my own vomit, so you’re welcome to leave at any time.”

“I have an Uber called,” he said. “I was simply waiting for you to awaken.”

“Great. Happy trails.” I stood up and turned to grab my phone, but Loki was suddenly right there, looming and threatening and deliciously rumpled.

“Not until you thank me.”

I clenched my jaw. “For what?”

“For looking after you, even though it is the furthest thing from what I wanted.”

I smiled venomously and batted my lashes. “Loki, have you ever had scalding hot coffee poured down your pants?”

Wrong thing to say. He stepped even closer, and a faint whiff of his Calvin Klein cologne hit me. “Go right ahead, darling. I dare you.”

I moved my arm towards him, but he grabbed my wrist and smirked. “Ah, right, I forgot about that blind, unthinking defiance of yours. I would prefer you not damage my most precious possession.”

“Yes, I’m sure your right hand would be devastated.”

Loki’s eyes flashed with challenge. “You are not the only one who has changed since last we met, darling. I am not the timid young man I was. Try me if you like. You will regret it.”

“Unlike everyone else around here, I’m not afraid of you, Loki.”

He cocked his head slightly, and then squeezed my wrist. “Is that why your heart is racing right now?”

I glared. “Get out of my hotel room, Loki.”

His lips widened into a satisfied smirk. “We were never able to resolve the discrepancy between what your mouth says and your body wants, were we? Let me guess. I’d say you haven’t been fucked in a while, probably not since Thor told you about the wedding. Is that why you didn’t bring a plus one, darling? Is there some faint desire in the depths of your mind to be bedded again?”

“Life’s disappointing enough,” I fired back. “I don’t need a second helping.”

“Such a selective memory,” he tutted. “Is that the game now? To pretend as if you were not writhing and moaning my name as if I were your entire world? To pretend you didn’t come on my cock with everything you had? To pretend I wasn’t your first, your one and only?”

“I’m not pretending anything. I moved past it. It’s not my fault if you haven’t.”

He shook me slightly, his voice rising in ire. “And whose fault is that, pray tell?”

I shoved my face right up near his, my voice a hoarse, deadly whisper. “Get. Out.”

Loki stared down into my soul for another handful of seconds and then let me go. He scooped up his suit jacket along the way and slammed the door behind him without another word. I stood there fuming, willing myself not to shed another tear for him.

I’d shed enough by now.

* * *

Roughly an hour later at breakfast, I yanked Thor aside and tore him a new one.

“Give me one good reason not to walk out on you right now,” I snarled, just barely able to keep my voice below an actual bellow. Thor shut the door to the guest room of his parents’ place so no one would hear us, and then held his hands up in pleading supplication.

“Please, honey bunny, let me explain.”

“Are you trying to make me go home? Because this is exactly the way to do it.”

“Please,” he said again. “I promise I did not do it out of ill will. Hear me out.”

“Why should I?”

Thor sighed. “Because I am worried about both of you, honey bunny.”

“Why? Do I not seem capable of taking care of myself?”

“No. It’s…” He ran a hand through his dark blond hair and turned to one side. “Last night, after you passed out, Loki was…worried for you.”

I stiffened. “What?”

“You were not unconscious, just sleepy,” he clarified. “And Loki seemed so distraught over it that I told him to look after you. He resisted a bit at first, but he still agreed, and he appeared relieved once you woke up. As much as he is trying to fight it, there is still some part of him that is your friend, and still wants to be. I did not do it with the hopes of rekindling any old flames.”

He gripped my hands gently, running his thumbs over the back of them. “I want you to heal, honey bunny. You’re so strong. One of the strongest people I know. But when you left, you were hurt. We all were. I know that you have a life of your own, and I am proud of you. So proud, honey bunny. But I know that deep down, you still have so much turmoil from how you left things with Loki, and I do not want you to go the rest of your life with this burden.”

He squeezed my fingers. “True, it is not my place to decide this for you. Only you can. I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I just want you to consider making peace with it however you can. Loki still cares about you. And I think you still care about him. Even if the damage cannot be repaired, I think it would be good for both of you to at least let go of what happened.”

“You’re assuming that either of us can, Thor. We’re two of the most stubborn people on earth.”

Thor smiled a bit. “I know. I still think it’s worth a go. It’s your choice. I just want you to be happy.”

The room got a little blurry. Shit. Stupid Thor. He could destroy me with his soft words far too easily. I shook my head. “I don’t see how. Even if I apologize, what good will it do? He’ll just lord it over me.”

“I think he might surprise you. I know you have not spoken to him since it happened, but I have. He…misses you. He will do everything in his power to convince you otherwise, and yet here he is. He did not have to come. True, there was pressure from our mother, but Loki does not let anyone make decisions for him, and he does not crack under social pressure. He is here because he wants to be here.”

Thor bit his lower lip. “And I believe that you are part of the reason he wants to be here.”

My chest constricted. I swallowed hard. That was a lot to think about, especially after our interaction not too long ago. I still couldn’t remember anything about last night, but I got this sudden ghostly feeling as if there were a memory lurking about of Loki’s gentle touch guiding me to bed. I couldn’t be sure, of course.

But maybe Thor was right.

Damn it.

“I won’t make any promises,” I told him. “But…I’ll keep it in mind, alright?”

Thor wrapped me in a warm hug. “Thank you, honey bunny. I love you dearly.”

“I love you too, teddy bear.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find yourself falling back into old patterns with Loki. The question is if that's a good or a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *maniacal laughter*

At breakfast, everyone was regaled with the karaoke shenanigans, and there were a few more toasts over mimosas for any last minute guests who wanted to do so informally. I had been given a little spot for my own at the reception tonight, so I could safely eat my stuffed French toast in peace without having to worry.

Loki was at the other end of the table, his demeanor frosty as usual, but he too appeared to be enjoying the food. All the other activities would be catered, but Frigga had promised everyone a home-cooked meal as her show of affection, and no one, not even Loki, could resist it. 

Like any wealthy family, they had little activities for us to do if we felt like it. Brunhilde and Thor were both fitness nuts, so they’d scheduled a scenic bike ride through the park, which I firmly declined. I’d seen the two of them cycle before; my lungs would burst about five minutes into the trip if I went. For those who were not inclined to work up a sweat, the family had free spa day tickets. Considering the massive amount of stress I found myself under, I immediately snagged one and headed over there with some of the other girls.

True to form, they’d chosen a highly rated place, and my back massage was nothing short of glorious. It completely reversed my hangover headache and was so effective that I actually dozed off for an hour. My massage therapist woke me in time to go soak my feet and get my complimentary manicure.

And in the hallway, I bumped into Loki.

He didn’t seem surprised to see me, but I couldn’t help smiling once I spotted him walking towards me. It was so perfectly weird to see him in a spa, as I didn’t take him for the type to relax. He wore a dark navy robe—also complimentary, because this family was just that extra—and while he didn’t full on glare as we locked eyes, he certainly wasn’t happy to see me. Guilt ate at my stomach like acid.

“Didn’t take you for the spa type,” I said once he was within earshot. He lifted a brow.

“I am when it’s bloody free.”

I laughed a bit. “Right? I think the package normally costs like $300. Thank God for your bougie parents.”

Loki’s mouth twisted, trying to resist a smile. “Bougie. I had not heard that in a while. I see your vocabulary has also not changed since last we met, darling.”

I shrugged. “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

I cleared my throat and forced the next words out. “And speaking of dogs, I was a total bitch to you this morning. Mind you, you deserved most of it, but not all of it. I’m sorry.”

Loki stared at me in amazement. Then he frowned. “Did Thor put you up to this?”

I rolled my eyes. “I have a conscience, Loki. Thor doesn’t have anything to do with it. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I just…I got defensive and lashed out. It was immature. I’ll try not to do that again.”

He eyed me. “Well, you were not unprovoked. I admit I also came after you doggedly. I will make an attempt to be more civil. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough.” I checked my watch. “It’s almost lunchtime. Where are you going?”

“Mother wants us to have a family dinner apart from the guests, an intimate affair, she says.” He paused to roll his eyes. “I am expected to attend and be on my best behavior.”

“You don’t have best behavior.”

He gave me a little smirk. “I am quite the naughty boy, aren’t I?”

My heart rate shot up, stupidly hopeful all of the sudden. Was he…flirting with me? It was so damned hard to tell when he meant something, since he wore charm like effortless cologne. “That’s nothing new either. I still remember that time you pulled the fire alarm during our final exam.”

Loki grinned. “And they never bloody proved I did it, either.”

“The trickster at work. They never stood a chance.”

We stood there, smiling fondly at each other for a beat or two, and then we both seemed to realize that something had clicked beneath the surface. Whether we’d realized it or not, we had fallen back into our old patterns. Loki and I had always been banter buddies. We would trade insults constantly, playfully, never meaning anything by it, just enjoying the constant battle of wits. It had been why Thor introduced me to him, after noticing my penchant for being an unrepentant snark monster. He had known Loki would love to be presented a challenge.

“We, uh, we should probably get going before they wonder where we are,” I said, tearing my gaze away from those sea-green eyes before they dragged me beneath the undertow.

“Mm,” he agreed. I nearly shivered. Damn that velvet voice of his. “I am certain I’ll see you later.”

Just before he stepped around me, his eyes lingered over my lips.

Before I could say anything, he’d passed me and the moment was over. I felt breathless for a second before I reminded myself to keep walking. I was being silly. This was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts.

Which was why said thoughts plagued me for the next hour and a half. Sigh.

I went to lunch with some of guests at a nice Italian spot and then headed back to the house, as the bridesmaids would begin hair and makeup soon. The wedding ceremony would be at sunset, and so it took a lot to get everyone ready. Brunhilde passed out our dresses, freshly dry cleaned and with all final alterations done, and shooed us away to try them on and then return for getting dolled up. We ended up using Loki’s old room to change and chatted excitedly amongst ourselves as we took turns cleaning up. I showered last out of the group and told them I’d catch up soon.

I had just set my underwear out on the bed when the door crashed open and Loki came stalking into it, his face flushed with anger. I yelped in alarm, clutching my towel around me, and he jumped in surprise as he spotted me.

“Excuse me,” he said, turning his back to me. “I did not know you were—”

“It’s okay,” I assured him. “You just startled me. What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “It’s fine, darling, nothing for you to be concerned with.”

“Loki, it’s your brother’s wedding and you look like you’re about to rip someone’s head off. I’d say that’s a cause for concern.” I walked over to the door and shut it, locking it as well. When I faced him, he had a curious expression, somewhere between confused and apprehensive.

“What’s wrong?” I asked gently.

“Darling, I meant it, it’s nothing—”

“You tried that when we were kids,” I said archly. “It didn’t work then and it doesn’t now. I get that you’re still mad at me, but you need to get this out of your system or you’re gonna pop like a balloon.”

“I have not so far,” he told me mildly.

“So you say. It’s been six years. For all I know, you’re a serial killer.”

He let out a small chuckle then. It made me feel better. I cautiously took his hand. He didn’t pull away. I led him over to the bed and sat him down. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, rubbing at his forehead with his palm as if he has a stress headache. “The lunch was going fine. Everything was fine. We reminisced and such, just the four of us. Then my father…”

Loki clenched his jaw. “In typical form, my father made some comment about Thor teaching me how to court and keep a lady so that they’d be doing this again sooner rather than later.”

I gritted my teeth. “Jesus _fucking _Christ.”

“Yes,” he growled. “And before I knew it, we were in it again, just like when I was a boy. Frigga and Thor both tried to get us to calm down, same as always, but I’d had enough, so I left.”

“Look, I’m not all that strong, but I’m pretty fast. I bet I can give him a nice black eye for his trouble.”

Loki shook his head, but the comment made him smile regardless. “Wouldn’t that be a Kodak moment?”

After a moment, he dropped his forehead against my stomach. A huge surge of nostalgia went through me. We’d done this before, a lot, mostly after fights with his father. Before I could even stop myself, I wrapped my arms around his neck and slipped my fingers into his hair. He’d only needed the permission after that; he wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me between his legs, leaning into me completely.

“I swear to you,” he whispered. “There is nothing I can do that will please that bastard.”

“No,” I said softly. “There isn’t. So you shouldn’t try. Fuck his approval. You’ve never needed it, Loki. But I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with him your whole damn life.”

“The worst part is that Thor hates it,” he murmured. “He bloody hates that our father compares us. I want to be jealous or angry at my brother, but I know it’s not his fault. He has always been in my corner, no matter what I’ve done, and yet I still resent him. It’s a selfish, stupid thing to do, and yet here I am. Perhaps the bastard is right about me.”

I pushed the dark curls away from his forehead and lifted his head so he’d look at me. “If you really believe that, I’m going to slap the taste out of your mouth, Loki.”

He blinked at me, perplexed. “Pardon me?”

“You’re you, Loki,” I told him. “Don’t ever try to be anyone else. Don’t apologize for it and don’t compromise. Your father is thick as a brick wall if he can’t see all the great things about you, and that’s his problem, not yours. If you want to change, fine. But change because it’s what _you_ want, not what he wants.”

He swallowed hard, studying me intensely, and my bare skin prickled under his gaze. He glanced away after a moment. “It’s not that easy, love.”

I ran my thumb over his cheekbone. “I never said it was easy.”

He exhaled. “I suppose you didn’t, did you?”

Loki faced forward again, and seemed to finally notice that with him sitting and me standing between his legs that he was mere inches from, well, the Danger Zone. His fingers closed over my hips a little more and something resembling lust clouded his features like a slow, creeping tide. We were both suddenly breathing harder than before.

“Six years and you still use the same body wash,” he whispered, his eyes fluttering shut in concentration. “Cucumber melon, right?”

“Like I said,” I replied, my voice a little hoarse. “Old dog. New tricks.”

“Hmm,” he hummed as his eyes slid halfway open, his gaze directed at my thighs. “I wonder what new tricks you have learned, darling.”

He gripped one side of the towel over my waist and dragged it up enough to bare part of my thigh. He leaned forward, slowly, giving me ample time to move out of the way. I was a deer in headlights, frozen in place, waiting for the end.

His mouth made contact with my inner thigh. He pressed a single hot, wet kiss into the delicate skin, and I arched my back as pleasure flooded up through my nerves in a scalding rush. His tongue lashed out over the spot, followed by his teeth, not hard enough to mark me, but enough to let me feel it. He’d done the same thing all those years ago, when I’d given myself over to him.

“Are you still as sweet as I remember, darling?” Loki whispered, rubbing his cheek along my thigh, his warm breath curling up against my slit beneath the towel.

“L-Loki,” I stammered, terrified and yet my core tightened almost painfully in excitement.

He ran his other hand up from the top of my knee, sliding it purposely slow up towards where his face was one inch at a time. He stopped at the crease of my thigh, and I almost shouted in disappointment. He rubbed his thumb against my femoral artery and my knees nearly buckled.

“Tell me, darling,” he cooed. “Are you wet?”

I flushed red in embarrassment. “N-No.”

Loki chuckled lowly, and then finally brushed his thumb across my opening. It was completely slick to the touch now, and the moment he touched me, white-hot streaks of pleasure shot through my veins. “Liar.”

I trembled, trying not to moan as he smoothed his thumb back and forth over my opening, so patient, so unlike our first time together where we’d both been so emotionally raw in our haste. It had felt good, so good, and yet now, years later, it felt even better to have his hands, his mouth, on me again. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted a repeat performance, knowing it would be better now that we were both adults who knew how to seek out our pleasures.

“I want it,” he rasped, sliding his thumb up to tease my clit. “I want your cunt again, darling.”

Loki tugged me forward, angling his face up, his hot mouth closing over my pussy. I clapped a hand over my mouth and gripped a handful of his hair, managing to stifle a scream as his tongue lapped up over me in one glorious swipe.

And then someone knocked on the door.

“Honey bunny, the stylist is waiting on you!” one of the other bridesmaids fussed. “Get your butt moving already!”

Like that, the spell was broken.

I slid out of Loki’s grasp and tugged the towel back down, my legs turned to jelly just from that brief interaction. What the hell was I doing? I’d completely forgotten about everything that wasn’t Loki, somehow. I cleared my throat and called towards the door, “Coming!”

Loki stood up and smoothed his hair down, and those piercing blue-green eyes were all for me. He licked his lips while I watched and smirked down at me, that rolling growl of arousal still in his voice.

“Not yet,” he promised. “But maybe later.”

He tilted my chin up and kissed my cheek. “Thank you, darling. Somehow or other, you always know just what I need.”

Then he unlocked the door and vanished through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you guys are dying to know why they broke up, and I promise, you'll find out. Just gotta be patient. ;D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Brunhilde's wedding is a joyous event, but it is not without its ups and downs for Reader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you've been waiting patiently, so here's part one of what led to Reader and Loki's breakup.
> 
> Warning: underage sex, but they're both seventeen years old, one year from being legal, so hopefully this doesn't bug anyone too much. If it does, you're welcome to skip it; it's the italicized portion of the scene at the bottom.

In no time at all, it was curtain call.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen lined up into formation at the end of the long off-white carpet leading up to the small platform. We were all inside a huge silk tent with mosquito netting to keep the bugs out and fairy lights twinkled above us to show the way. In our little diagrams, we hadn’t been told who we’d be matched up with as we walked up the aisle, and I knew just from sheer understanding of how cruel the universe could be whom I’d be paired with.

Loki walked over in his sharp navy tuxedo, his hair pulled back at his nape, a little ivory carnation pinned to his lapel. He walked over and offered me his arm, his smile mysterious and distracting as hell. I fought down the urge to blush as I thought about what those lips had been doing to me not too long ago and wrapped a hand around his bicep. He wasn’t flexing, but yet I felt the solid muscle beneath it and had to concentrate on walking forward at a steady pace until he let me go.

Though not before turning and kissing my hand again.

Bastard.

Worse still, I caught Thor shaking with suppressed laughter at how the kiss made me blush and I sent him a quick death glare before taking my spot with the other bridesmaids. From here, I could see everything, like Frigga beaming with pride, tears in her beautiful eyes, so excited for her son. I couldn’t blame her. He seemed like a star going supernova, so delighted as he waited for the final reveal of his bride to be.

And true to form, Brunhilde slayed us all.

She wore a beautiful ivory wedding dress, lace patterns glittering with pearls in various spots, sleek and elegant, but with a high split up one side to give a glance of her toned, golden-brown legs. She had a short veil and her bouquet was bursting with color: a collection of Morning Glories, part of her wedding theme. Her dark hair lay around her bare shoulders, glossy and slightly curled, and she couldn’t disguise a smile as she saw her future husband’s face slacken in amazement. Oh, what cuties. I truly loved them both.

Thor’s father placed a kiss on her cheek and then joined Frigga at the front of the row. The clergyman told everyone to sit and began the ceremony. Thor and Brunhilde wrote their own vows, and by the time Brun admitted that the moment she knew Thor was her one and only had been their first family dinner—which was a big deal, as she was an orphan—I was giving my waterproof mascara a run for its money. They were hopelessly in love and I felt a sudden surge of protectiveness over them both when they sealed the deal with a kiss. I wanted them to stay in love with all my heart. Somehow, seeing them work things out in spite of the many challenges before them made me feel safe. As if maybe the world wasn’t one giant garbage fire.

The bride and groom led the way out of the tent back to the reception area, which had been set up in the center patio of their enormous, beautiful garden. They had a small stage towards one side of the circle with a mic and then a polished removable dance floor was before it, and then tables lined the backyard. Waiters wandered in from the kitchen with drinks first, and then dinner. Brunhilde and Thor were both big eaters, so instead of the traditional chicken or fish, they had sprung for a Vegas style All-You-Can-Eat buffet. Pretty much anything one could think of was on the menu, and you gave the waiter your choice, and they’d bring it out to you, as many plates as you wanted. I tucked in heartily.

After dinner came the time for toasts, and my stomach tried to jettison itself from my upper body as Sif, who had been in charge of running the program, extended her hand to help me onto the stage. She gave me a quick hug and whispered, “Don’t worry; you’ll do great!” and then nudged me gently over to the mic. I stared out at the guests and tried not to break into flop-sweat as I patted a sweaty palm against one side of my dress.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” I said, swallowing to wet my dry throat. “Um, I won’t keep you long, I just wanted to say my little piece here.”

I took a deep breath. “I met Thor in sixth grade. And met is kind of a funny term to describe it. I was a skinny, scrappy little thing and I was walking down the hall, minding my own business, when this gigantic popular jock was walking the opposite way and just ran into me. He knocked my books out of my hands and everything, didn’t even blink, didn’t even stop. I didn’t have much self-preservation, so I snapped at him to watch where he was going, and you can imagine he didn’t care for some tiny girl sassing him in the middle of the hallway. He tried intimidating me. It didn’t work. He started getting irritated, but I wouldn’t back down. I laid into him, and everyone around me was howling that I had the balls to risk very serious injury just because I was too stupid to run from a fight. And the loudest laughter, it turns out, came from this beluga whale over here.”

I pointed to Thor. He grinned and waved to everyone, and they chuckled. “The popular jock stormed off and Thor came over to tell me he hadn’t ever seen anyone tell that guy off before and it was way overdue. The rest is history. After that, it was like having a huge golden retriever following me around at random.”

Again, the crowd laughed. “Thor would insist I sit at his table at lunch and we would roast all of his friends together, and I would help him with his English papers and he would help me with my science papers. I’ve always had friends, but none of them were ever like Thor. I’ve never been so grateful for someone barging his way into my life. Thor is responsible for a lot of the laughter I’ve enjoyed over the years, whether on purpose or not.”

I gestured to his wife. “And then I met Brun. God. The first time we met, Thor had come through town to see me and we went out to a bar, and when I saw her drink him under the table, I knew then that this was true love.”

“Tis true,” Thor boomed, and Brun smacked him in the arm, but she was grinning anyway.

“I don’t even know how or why she graced us with her presence, but I’m beyond happy that not only is she a riot, but she keeps the big golden retriever in check. You two are one of my favorite couples simply because you balance each other so well. I am ecstatic to see you get married and I hope that every year just gets better and better for you. Thank you for letting me a part of this wedding, and a part of your lives. You are my dearest friends and I love you more than anything.”

I raised my champagne. “To Thor and Brunhilde.”

The guests all repeated me and we drank. I scurried off the stage in the wake of applause, and as predicted, Thor scooped me up in a big hug and kissed my cheek, and I hugged Brun before returning to my seat. I took another big swig of my champagne just to rid myself of any remaining nerves, and then glanced up to see the next person giving a toast.

And it was Loki.

Oh, boy.

“Good evening, everyone,” Loki said smoothly, tucking one hand inside his pocket. “Firstly, congratulations to the bride and groom. Brunhilde, Venus herself could not hope to compete with your beauty in that dress.”

“Oh, sod off, pretty boy!” Brun shouted back, and both Loki and everyone else laughed.

“I suppose I should be like Volstagg and recount every single horrifically embarrassing thing Thor has ever done,” Loki continued, his eyes gleaming playfully at his brother. “But this affair is only about another hour long and we don’t have that kind of time.”

Again, we laughed. “Instead, I will tell you all that like the lovely honey bunny said just now, I must confess that I have rarely seen two people so well-suited for one another. Thor and Brunhilde are yin and yang in all the best ways. We have had our differences growing up, Thor and I, but it only took meeting Brunhilde once to know that this love of theirs would last an eternity. For all my mischief and sordid past, I must say that I find myself truly pleased Thor found someone who is willing to put up with his nonsense so that I do not have to so often. I am not much of a romantic, but if anyone has a chance to make it, I believe both of you have what it takes a thousand times over.”

He lifted his glass. “To Thor and Brunhilde.”

We all toasted and drank. Loki loped from the stage over to his brother, and for once, he wore a genuine smile. My heart flickered upon seeing that brief glimpse of happiness from him. It made him look absolutely stunning.

The couple’s first dance began—a sweet, traditional waltz—and then Thor and Frigga, and Brunhilde and Thor’s father. After that, they invited everyone onto the dance floor. I stayed glued to my chair despite the other bridesmaids’ needling, happy to finish off my plate and watch them twirl. Before long, one of Jill Scott’s slow, poetic songs flowed out from the speakers, and I almost sighed as the soothing open notes began.

_“Oh, honey_

_Why you got to be so mean?_

_Don’t you, don’t you remember me?_

_Oh, baby, baby_

_You and me, you and me, you and me_

_We built sand castles in the Serengeti_

_Don’t you remember me?_

_You splashed my face with Nile waters_

_Daughter of a diaspora_

_You named me_

_Claimed me…”_

I hadn’t been paying attention much until I felt a presence to my left, and glanced up to see Loki.

Holding out his hand.

Uh-oh.

“I don’t dance,” I blurted out, blushing profusely. “You know that.”

“I know,” Loki said, his hand still extended. “I also know this is one of your favorite songs, so perhaps for once, you can let go of those rigid rules you have for yourself and simply enjoy one dance with me.”

“Loki—”

“Just one, darling,” he murmured, his gaze heavy on mine like a warm quilt in a cold winter month. “For old time’s sake.”

My cheeks got even hotter at that, but guilt made me slowly uncross my legs and rise from the chair. Loki’s cool fingers closed around my hand and he led me to the dance floor. He pulled me close, his big hands settling on the small of my back, my arms on his chest, our bodies swaying to the beat.

“Congratulations on your speech,” he said after a bit. “Your public speaking skills have improved.”

I sighed. “It’s a good thing this dress is so long; you guys couldn’t see my knees knocking together.”

Loki chuckled. It was devastating from so close, and the hairs on my arm stood up as the low buzz of it rolled down my front. Damn him. “Even so, you did well.”

I pursed my lips. “Oh, please. I had to rehearse that. Yours was off the top of your head, wasn’t it?”

He offered a gallant shrug. “Words come easier to some than others.”

I rolled my eyes. “Uh-huh. Are you here through tomorrow?”

“Yes, Thor insisted,” he said, rolling his eyes. Then he paused and eyed me. “Why?”

“I’m making small talk,” I insisted. “Relax. He insisted I stay through the weekend too.”

Loki scowled. “So he means to set us up, does he?”

“Not exactly,” I muttered, glancing away. “More like hoping we’ll make up.”

I winced as Jill Scott’s words floated over us. _“I remember you loving me, it was so beautiful. I remember loving you so good, so good, so good!”_

“And is there any chance of that, darling?” Loki whispered, one finger beneath my chin to turn me to face him. I licked my lips and had no idea what to say in reply, not when he was so warm and close and he smelled so damn good it made my head spin.

“I, um…I don’t…know what you want me to say, Loki,” I mumbled back, my heart ramming against my ribs so hard I was sure he could feel it.

“Anything,” he said quietly. “Anything about that night. I know it’s haunted me, but you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me it has not haunted you as well.”

_“I was that one you were born to seek_

_And I’m still here…”_

The song faded out, and I still couldn’t sort through the jumbled vowels and consonants sitting on the back of my tongue. I flattened my palms against his chest and pushed gently so that he let me go. I walked out into the garden as the last bits of sunlight dripped from the heavens and darkness swallowed the sky. I managed to fight down the tears as memories from that night spilled through my mind.

_Graduation Day had been a busy, hectic nightmare of scheduling, but we did it. There had been a lot of celebrating, but the biggest thing had yet to come. That afternoon, I’d found out that my top two schools had accepted me, and one of them was the same school as Loki. If we wanted to, we wouldn’t have to separate like a lot of best friends did after high school. We could still be together._

_If we wanted to._

_After all the parties and being fussed over by our families, Loki and I stole away to his room that night. His parents’ place was twice what mine was, and he had a similar set up of the basement floor to himself, only with way more square footage. I’d often teased him about being a prince in disguise because of it. _

_We lay on his bed watching Frasier reruns. It was familiar and comfortable and we both needed to de-stress after such a crazy day. I sat with my head on his shoulder, and he had one arm around me, our legs and sides touching all down one side. _

_“May I ask you something?” he said so softly I almost thought I hadn’t heard it._

_“Hmm?” I said in all my eloquence. _

_“That conversation we never seem to get around to having,” Loki continued. “Don’t you think now is a good time to have it?”_

_I frowned up at him, confused. “What conversation?”_

_He slipped his fingers underneath my chin, lifting my face, and leaned over me. “This one.”_

_He kissed me. Loki kissed me. My Loki kissed me._

_And I…I…liked it._

_What the hell?_

_He held the kiss for a handful of seconds and then pulled back, his dark lashes lifting over his eyes to gauge my reaction. I licked my lips and stared back at him, my breath shallow. “Oh. That conversation.”_

_“Mm-hmm,” he purred, running his thumb over my lower lip. “We’ve not-talked about it for long enough. Yes or no, darling?”_

_“I…” I swallowed hard. “I, um, I’m a…you know…”_

_“Virgin?” he offered, one eyebrow quirked, and I blushed insanely hard at hearing my best friend say it aloud._

_“Yeah, that,” I stammered. “Won’t that, um, bother you?”_

_“It won’t,” he said gently. “Virginity is not even real. It’s just an outdated concept to put undeserved pressure on people, especially women. It has no effect on your worth as person and it should hardly be of note at all in society.”_

_Well, that put an end to that. “Um, but I won’t…know what to do. Won’t that be bad?”_

_He gave me a smile as if I were hopeless. “You silly thing. It could never be. It’s you, isn’t it? That is what I want. You. Just you, darling, as you are.”_

_Loki kissed me again, still so tenderly, that I broke out in shudders from head to toe. I found the courage to kiss him back, and our tongues met for the first time. I’d already had my first kiss—mostly by accident, since I got caught in a Spin the Bottle scenario during a party when I was fifteen—and yet Loki’s kiss was nothing like that awkward mashing of lips. He kissed with such conviction, as if I sustained him. _

_He felt me relax into it, and then nudged me to lie down on his bed. He kept kissing me, and this time his hands joined his mouth. He stroked me underneath my jeans and t-shirt, rocking his hips against my lower belly, the kisses getting deeper, messier. The next several minutes were a blur; my clothes becoming lumps of cotton on the floor, Loki’s hot mouth on the inside of my right thigh, me clapping a hand over my mouth as he bit me and made me moan for the first time. I thought he’d jump right to it, but he didn’t. He kept kissing, kept caressing, kept teasing until I was so wet it embarrassed the hell out of me. By the time he took the rest of his clothes off, I was practically hyperventilating. _

_“It’s okay,” he whispered to me. “It’s okay, darling. Relax. I have you.”_

_“What if I’m bad at it?” I whispered, clinging to him, filled with fear and shame and a strange eagerness. _

_Loki chuckled and kissed my temple, my cheek. “You won’t be. Just let me take care of you.”_

_He met my gaze then, and the depth of emotion in his eyes made me tingle everywhere. “Do you trust me, darling?”_

_I bit my lower lip and then wrapped my arms around his neck. “Yes.”_

_Loki dropped his forehead to mine. “It’s going to hurt, a lot, but not forever. I promise.”_

_I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay.”_

_He moved then, pressing into me, all pale skin and long limbs and rushing, excited breaths. He was right. It hurt. Unimaginably. I buried my face against his shoulder and bit down over the firm, sweaty skin. A little sob shook out of me as it felt like a knife had been shoved into my gut. Loki whispered that I’d be alright and pressed soothing kisses everywhere he could touch, my ear, my cheek, my neck, going as slow as he could bear to go. Gradually, the pain decreased. The first time I felt something other than discomfort was when he lowered one hand and pressed his thumb against the spot above where we were connected, and blissful shudders swept up my skin. I made a needy whine into his mouth and shoved my hips towards him, and he groaned for the first time, surprised. I liked that noise. Boy, did I like it. I’d never made him do that before. I wanted to do it again. _

_Excited with this new power I possessed, I started pushing my hips down against his pelvis, and then wonderful sensations cascaded down over my naked body. We both moved faster, and once things started to feel really good, I realized I was moaning a lot, and not very quietly. I pulled one of Loki’s hands up to cover my mouth, and he growled, somehow both frustrated and excited by this move. We held each other closer, climbing together, and I was falling apart in his arms. I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t stop saying his name, maybe because I just couldn’t understand the things he made me feel, things no one else ever had, in my body, in my soul. It was terrifying and beautiful all at once._

_Loki shuddered above me, sliding his hand from my lips to kiss me, and I knew neither of us would last much longer. He slid those long fingers over my throat, squeezing just slightly so I’d look at him, and ragged words spilled out of him. “I love you. I love you, darling. I love you so much.”_

_He shifted, and before I could even truly grasp what he’d just said, we were both over the cliff of our pleasure. _

_It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I felt like a phoenix, reborn in fire, the world around me in ashes. _

_He settled beside me, dragging me back against his bare chest, the two of us cooling down over the next several minutes. He pulled the covers up and nuzzled the spot behind my ear. “Come with me. I want you to come with me to uni, darling.”_

_He kissed my shoulder, and before I could say anything, he had fallen asleep._

_And for the first time in my life…I was afraid._

I heard the grass parting under someone’s feet as I came out of the memory, and I didn’t need to guess who it was before he spoke.

“It’s time we had that conversation again, darling.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Loki finally dig up the past and confront each other at long last.

For six years, I had been avoiding this conversation, and now I was about to have it the night of Thor's wedding. God help me.

I knew my options. I could flee. I'd wandered to the furthest point of the garden, which was surrounded on all sides in a neat little alcove with a stone bench and roses all around. Loki and I used to sneak out here on starry nights when we were both restless and star-gaze as preteens. It was no secret to anyone, of course, but the rest of his family politely said nothing. They'd always known we had a special connection.

"This is hardly the time nor the place, Loki," I told him without turning around, arms around my stomach, as if that would somehow help the queasiness. My heart wouldn't slow down. My palms were sweatier than they'd been up on stage during the toast. I prayed he'd listen to reason, but then again, it was Loki.

"Considering your track record with leaving, it is unlikely I will ever get another chance to have it," Loki said, a cruelness in his tone that stabbed through my chest. It was deserved, but still. "Six years I held my tongue. Six. Six years I respected your wishes for silence, and then you crash into my life again and just expect me not to demand an answer, as if I do not deserve one."

I stayed silent. He needed this, to let it out, no matter what it would do to me.

I heard him shift restlessly behind me, pacing, a harsh noise escaping. "If you did not feel the same, you only needed to tell me that. I was brash and my life was about to change. _Our _lives were about to change. And I held that in, that love for you, the way I felt about you, for years. Over and over again, Thor told me to tell you. And over and over again, I denied it. I pretended that it was a simple infatuation, that seeing you every day was not the best part of my week, that I didn't wish that you would look at me the way that Jane looked at Thor back then. And then graduation came and I knew with all your brilliance that you would get those schools you wanted, and I ran the risk of losing you. You knew me, darling. Inside and out. You knew I trusted almost no one on this earth, but I trusted you completely. I laid all my secrets bare to you that night, and what did you do?"

Loki grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. The tears already gathering on my lashes only grew as I saw the grief, the frustration, the loneliness, the anger in those sea-green eyes as he glared at me. "You ran. I thought you many things in our time together, but I never once figured you for a coward."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and forced the words out as coldly as possible. "There. Got it all out of your system now?"

He gritted his teeth and shook me slightly. "Don't you dare stand here and pretend you've been unaffected. I know you want to seem so calm and rational about how you feel, but you're lying to yourself. It's a two way street, darling. You know me to my core, and I know you in return. I let you run from me once. I will not do it again. Answer me. Why did you run from me that night?"

I stared at him, willing myself to hold my ground. He shook me again. "Damn you, woman! Why?"

"Because I was a seventeen-year-old _idiot_, Loki!" I shouted, ripping my arm free. His eyes widened in shock. Maybe it was the champagne, or the bottled up Molotov cocktail of emotions that had been slowly boiling inside me for six years, but molten words spilled out of me before I could stop them. "Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to find out that you loved me? I had never had a single relationship make it past three months, and then the person I trusted most in the world reveals that he's been in love with me the whole time we'd been friends? Do you know what that meant, Loki? It meant that one wrong move and I could ruin everything. I didn't run that night because of you. I ran that night because of _me_."

My hair cascaded forward and I raked it out of my eyes, stifling an anguished sob as I kept going. "I was a lonely kid growing up before I met Thor. I had a few classmate friends, but that was it. The bell rang and we were friends, but as soon as the day was over, I was alone again. Then you came along, and you thought I was funny and interesting and you weren't trying to get anything out of me. You just wanted to be with me. No one had ever treated me like that. No one hung on my every word, encouraged me, reminded me that I had a strength that would let me do things I never thought I could do. And then you kissed me and you were my first and everything changed. I was no longer just your friend. I was someone you cared for, and that meant that I could fuck you up beyond recognition, either on purpose or by accident. What if we ran off together and I destroyed the relationship? What if I ruined everything? I didn't know a single thing about relationships, Loki. I could have unmade you without even knowing it. I left because I was scared that I would break you, and I knew you were strong enough to survive without me. I knew you'd be successful. I knew you'd go and find a great girl and be happy with someone who actually deserves you instead of some scrappy idiot who panicked at the idea of being loved by someone so intelligent and worthy and thoughtful. It didn't matter if I would regret it for the rest of my life. I wanted you to have a better life than whatever I could have given you. Of course I loved you, you fucking knob. But I would rather carry that weight until I died than let you be dragged under by what a complete and utter fuck-up I am as a person. So there you go. I hope that was worth the wait. Now you can hate me in peace and I can go back to hating myself just as much."

The tears cascaded down my cheeks, drenching them, dripping onto my collarbone. I didn't bother wiping them away. I almost sagged from the sudden weight lifted off me, of confessing what I had tried to bury for so many years. Loki stood there, staring through me, pale and impassive, stricken from the revelation. Then he spoke very quietly. "And is that what you thought this whole time?"

"What?" I demanded.

"That I was some pure soul, untouched by sin, too good for the likes of you?" he asked. "Exactly what in our entire background led you to believe I was a saint? When I spent years sniping at my older brother for loving me unconditionally or fighting my father's poor attempts at guidance at every turn? When instead of gently introducing the idea of dating you, I ambushed you when you were most vulnerable? Please, tell me the exact moment that I was too virtuous for you, darling? I am curious to know."

I shook my head. "Loki, you know the kind of woman that you deserve to be with. Someone...I don't know, elegant and enchanting and clever. It's not supposed to be this. It's not supposed to be me."

"Darling, look at me," he said, his touch gentle now as he pulled me close. "When have I ever done what was expected of me?"

"Loki--"

"Not once," he answered. "I do not care about your holy crusade to not bring me down. I do not care that you lack experience in relationships. I do not care that you have deprived yourself of any happiness for six bloody years out of some misplaced sense of protection. I have spent so many years resenting you and hating you and yet the first sight of you from across the room last night made my heart race. Everything came flooding back to me the very instant I laid eyes upon you again. All those nights we stayed up talking. Every time you offered me comfort when I felt most alone. Every time you smiled at me. Every time I held your hand or hugged you or kissed your cheek when you were sad. A wise person once said that the opposite of love is not hate. It is apathy. I have tried for years not to care about you, and yet here I am. You ate my heart in the marketplace, and yet here I stand, completely willing to let you do it again."

He cupped my chin in his hand, his gaze unafraid and unflinching, just as it had been that night. "Now you look me in the eyes and you tell me that you do not love me. Tell me and I will leave this place and never bother you again."

_Say it, _my mind begged me._ It's so easy. Just tell him you don't love him and then he'll be gone and he'll be fine. He'll get married someday and have a family. You'll survive. You made it this far, right?_

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out. Not a peep.

Loki slid his hand up into my hair and tilted my head back. "That's what I bloody thought."

He kissed me, hard, possessive, not waiting to lick my lips apart to taste me. I clung to his lapels to stay upright as delirious pleasure swept over me from head to toe. I'd kissed quite a few men since we'd been apart, none of them bad at it by any stretch, and yet Loki's kiss seemed to erase the memory of every single one.

Then, quite suddenly, he picked me up and carried me to the bench, sitting on it with me in his lap. The kissing deepened, turning frantic, heady, the lust gushing out of us like a fountain from being deprived of each other for so long. I bit his lower lip as I felt him shoving the dark silk up to bunch around my hips, exposing my bare legs. Uh-oh. Danger, Will Robinson, danger.

I tried to snatch the last bit of reason before it flew out of my head. "L-Loki, no, we can't, it's your brother's wedding, it's depraved."

"When have I ever been anything less than depraved?" he snarled between kisses, rocking me down against the bulge in his tuxedo slacks as he fought to find me underneath the layers of cloth. His fingers finally discovered my lace panties and I cried out as he gripped my ass with fervor, moaning as he mapped the shape. He slid one hand around between us and palmed me through them, finding me already wet enough to dampen the thin material. He pushed the panties aside as he slid his mouth to my throat, and then slipped two long fingers into me. I clutched his shoulders, my head thrown back, my eyes snapping shut as pleasure assaulted my senses, blanketing me in dizzying bliss. God, I'd wanted this for so long, dreamt of it on my loneliest nights.

"Fuck," Loki rasped into my neck. "Still as tight as I remember, darling. So good."

I clamped my hand down over my mouth to stifle the moans as he steadily fucked those long fingers into me, driving me crazy in only seconds from how goddamn great it felt. I tried not to, but I couldn't help pushing down against his arm, the friction sending me higher towards my orgasm with every passing moment.

"You want to come, don't you, darling?" he whispered, his teeth scraping over my pulse. "You want to come right now, right here, just for me?"

I couldn't answer. I just squeezed his shoulder with my free hand, wordlessly begging for it.

And so that's exactly why he pulled his fingers out.

I almost sobbed in disappointment, but then he yanked my hand away and kissed me again. "You will come for me, darling. But not from this. You're going to come on my cock."

He shoved the tuxedo pants past his thighs and balanced me over him, rubbing the soft, blunt tip of his cock against my soaking folds underneath my dress, tasting the moans that slipped out of me from the building anticipation.

He lifted me and then he sank into me one glorious inch at a time. My toes curled inside my pumps. God. He was heavenly.

Loki growled against my lips, shifting ever so slightly once I'd completely enveloped him. "You are so worth the wait, my darling."

He didn't give me a second to catch my breath or rethink things. He pulled me down on his cock and fucked me like we were the last two people on earth. I didn't have to worry about anyone hearing us, not with Loki's lips mated to mine so completely, not allowing anything more than a muffled whimper to escape in between messy kisses. I clung to him, completely within his control, my eyes rolling back in my head as the pleasure just seared through my veins with every rough thrust. It couldn't have been more than several minutes of carnal, animalistic sex before my inner thighs tightened and my slippery walls fluttered in warning.

"Loki," I mewled. "Loki, please."

"Yes," he whispered, passing his hot mouth over my neck again. "Yes, darling. Take this cock. Take this fucking cock in your little cunt. Mm, you're so wet for me. You want to come, don't you, sweet? Come for me. Come for me like a good girl."

I shook my head frantically, even as my cunt squeezed him even more tightly. "L-Loki, please, I can't, I shouldn't."

"Fucking come for me, darling," he purred, pushing down on my ass, his cock sliding so deep I thought he'd never find it again. "I love what you do to me. I love your scent, your taste, every inch of you. Now come for me."

I couldn't take another second. My lips quit obeying me as we both flew towards the climax. "God, I fucking love you so much, Loki."

The orgasm flooded my veins and swallowed my nerves and drowned me in pure nirvana. Loki gasped out my name in triumph, gripping me hard, shuddering under me as he came inside me in a quick, satisfying rush of liquid heat. We sagged against each other immediately, panting heavily, clinging to stay upright on the bench. Neither of us said anything for a while.

Loki hummed and kissed my throat, his voice hoarse but completely stable somehow. "I'll leave first and say my goodbyes. Wait fifteen minutes and do the same, then text me the address and room number to your hotel. I should be there within the hour."

I lifted my heavy eyelids to stare down at him. "Hmm?"

Loki lifted both brows and then gave me an utterly evil grin that made me twitch with excitement even with him still half-hard inside me. "Darling, we were apart for six years."

He kissed my lips, and the purr in his voice promised hours of sin in my future. "We have to make up for lost time."

Well.

Who could argue with that logic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You will be further rewarded for your patience soon, my thirsty darlings. More smut on its way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Loki relocate to her hotel room for some unfinished business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to animaguskitty. Happy birthday!

I had expected that after nearly an hour apart, Loki might have cooled down somewhat, especially considering our little flagrant display of affection in the garden, but when I opened the door to my hotel room, he attacked me.

In an instant, he shoved me to the wall adjacent to the door and idly kicked the door shut, lunging for my lips. His tall frame immediately flattened me against the wall, and I gasped slightly, which only allowed him better access to the inside of my mouth. He growled softly and pressed sloppy, hungry kisses to my lips, devouring the whimpers and moans that spilled out. I shivered as his fingers pushed my oversized t-shirt up over my thighs—hey, it’s not like I thought I’d get laid this weekend, sue me—and yanked the panties down. I pushed the tuxedo jacket off his shoulders and ripped the tie loose, undoing as many buttons as I could reach as he rolled that lithe, muscular body into me time and time again. He wrestled his suit pants past his thighs and then scooped me off the ground entirely, wrapping my legs around his waist.

“Loki,” I cried, half-excited, half-mortified. “I’m too heavy for you to—”

Words died on my tongue as he angled his hips at just the right point and slid into me.

My eyes rolled back. I bit my lip to stifle the ungodly loud moan trying to escape as a flood of pure, searing heat shot up from between my legs as Loki’s cock filled me again. I shivered from head to toe and crossed my ankles over the small of his back, digging my nails into his shoulders. Loki licked a wicked, wet stripe up from my collarbone to just behind my ear. “Mm, yes, there’s that sweet cunt I’ve been missing. So ready for me, aren’t you, darling? So wet underneath your little shirt. Such a naughty pet.”

He nipped my ear lobe and then dragged his teeth over my pulse as he pulled out, almost enough to withdraw completely. He waited until I whined before returning to me just as hard, just as smoothly, driving another gasp out of me. He held onto my ass with one big hand, the other crawling between our bodies enough to yank my bra down from beneath the shirt and palm one of my breasts as he fucked me in quick, hard strokes. I clung to him for dear life as my body shifted up and down to his relentless rhythm, the back of my shoulders rubbed raw through the cotton shirt, but every other part of me tingling and throbbing and aching all at once. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop moaning, and Loki’s chest rumbled with sounds that echoed my own as he took me.

“I knew it,” he whispered in my ear. “I knew you’d take my cock perfectly even after all this time.”

I whimpered as he pinched my nipple. “And you’re still so sensitive. I can’t wait to taste you, darling. To make you come all over yourself, all over my fingers, all over my tongue. Feel these beautiful legs around my neck. Fuck you with my mouth again and again until you forget how to say anything except my name. I will ruin you tonight, darling, ruin you for any man but me. Now be a good girl and come for me.”

“Arrogant jerk,” I slurred back.

Loki chuckled darkly and lifted his face above mine, his teeth gleaming in a lascivious grin. “Always, love.”

He kissed me, and just as he did, his hips ground up into mine in maddening circles. It added sweet, sharp pressure directly against my clit in combination with those swift, deep thrusts. I shouted into his mouth and tried to squirm away, but he lowered both hands to my thighs and kept me pinned to the wall.

“Come,” he ordered, nipping my lower lip. “Come for me. You know you want to. You know you love this cock inside your pretty little cunt. Mm, you’re making such a mess right now, darling. Sopping wet around me. Don’t you want to be a good girl for me?”

I shook my head. “Oh, yes, you do. Tell me. Tell me you’re a good girl.”

My toes curled. Oh, damn him. How had he managed to figure out my weakness? He’d only slept with me twice, for God’s sake. “I’m not.”

“You are,” he teased. “You’re my good, sweet girl. Say it. Say it and I’ll let you come.”

He punctuated the offer with a sadistic twist of his hips that made the tip of his cock smash against my spot and I couldn’t take it any longer. I writhed against the solid wall of heat that made up his chest, the words torn from my lips before I could stop them. “Mm, I’m a good girl, Loki, please.”

“My good girl,” he insisted. “You’re my good girl, aren’t you?”

“I’m your good girl, please, Loki, please let me come.”

He hissed in delight. “Yes, darling. I love it when you beg.”

He sped up his thrusts, nearly tripling the rhythm, and I didn’t make it another minute. My inner walls contracted all at once and I cried out, flying over the cliff into my orgasm. Loki’s fingers flexed on my thighs, and I felt the conflict in him for a fleeting second, that he wanted to join me, but he held off in the end. He slowed as I cascaded through the waterfall of bliss and then slumped back to the wall, my limbs gelatin, my heart thrumming a mile a minute.

He dropped light kisses and nibbles down my throat and then pushed off from the wall. He brought me over to the bed and settled me into the sheets. I let my fingers wander into the silken strands of his hair and ran one hand down into his wrinkled shirt from where it hung off one shoulder. He was a truly frustrating bastard, but he was beautiful all the same.

And it was mind-blowing how different he’d become—so much smoother, more confident, more persistent—and yet he still that same fiery intensity that he did when we were only teenagers. He had a kind of vulnerability despite how he always played at being cold and distant. As our bodies cooled, I felt tenderness in his kisses, in the way he stroked my hair. He’d missed me as much as I’d missed him, and the very thought warmed me like a sip of hot coffee on a cold morning.

“Think we can actually get our clothes off this time?” I teased.

“Perhaps,” he said, running his hands lightly up my sides beneath the shirt. “I do so wish to see you naked again, darling.”

“Quid pro quo.” I finished unbuttoning his dress shirt and he shrugged it off, politely allowing me enough time to ogle him. God above, Loki’s chest was magnificent. Lean and sculpted and pale. I ran the pads of my fingers over his pectorals, down to his abs, smoothing up again with my palms the second time. I’d already left little flushed patches from my lips, a few shallow fingernail marks too, and it made me both prideful and bashful at the same time. I’d marked my territory, basically, same as he had.

“Try not to let it go to your head,” I said as I pushed a stray curl behind his ear. “But you’re fucking gorgeous, Loki.”

“I know,” he said automatically, as if by reflex alone, and I rolled my eyes. He grinned down at me and then kissed my palm. “But I am nowhere near equal to your loveliness.”

I pursed my lips. “I’m wearing a t-shirt, Loki, not Victoria’s Secret.”

“You do not need it to make me want you.” He kissed my wrist this time and sighed. “I would want you in anything, even a bloody burlap sack.”

“Oh, you and that damned Silvertongue,” I fussed, pretending the compliments hadn’t made me blush.

Loki waggled his eyebrows. “You have no idea, pet.”

He pushed the hem of my shirt up over my thighs and lower belly, his breath quickening once he beheld what lay beneath. I peeled the shirt off and then the bra next, and Loki’s gaze could have seared through solid steel. He stared at my naked flesh as if memorizing a Rembrandt. I fought off my modest impulses, wanting to cover myself, but I let him look, same as he had let me look.

“My God,” he murmured hoarsely, his eyes running over every inch of me. “You are exquisite.”

He kissed me, his tongue circling, teasing, molding his upper body against mine on the bed. I pressed up into him, rolling my hips against his, unable to help moaning as I felt the heavy weight of his cock against my pelvis.

“Pants off,” I growled in between kisses, unbuttoning the tuxedo slacks. Loki obliged me and then rid himself of the boxer-briefs as well. I had him at last, gloriously naked in my arms, after all this time. I nearly experienced sensory overload from all that bare, smooth skin that was mine to touch.

“Are you mine, Loki?” The question slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

“Yes,” he answered immediately, breathing in shallow puffs of air against my lips. “I am, and I always have been, darling.”

I shivered with excitement and slipped a hand down his lithe body until my fingers encircled his cock. He moaned as I stroked him, biting softly at my lips in encouragement.

“Naughty pet,” he breathed, licking the corner of my mouth as he rocked into me in time with my rhythm. “You shouldn’t tease me. Who knows what I might do to you in return?”

“Something bad, I hope.” Eek. Had I really just said that? Loki was an awful influence.

He kissed his way down my chin to my neck. “Mm, the worst. I left the wedding reception before I could have any cake, so perhaps I’ll have you for dessert instead.”

Oh, my.

That sounded promising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the bite-sized chapter. More on the way!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki indulges in some "dessert."

Loki made a path of slow, wet kisses down my center to my bellybutton, nudging my legs further apart as he went. Every inch lower that he sank only made me more and more frantic. I couldn’t pretend as if I hadn’t fantasized about this before. I burned with jealousy thinking of how many other girls before me got to enjoy him this way, and I was determined to be the last to enjoy that privilege.

Loki slipped his arms around my thighs and then abruptly rolled. I yipped in surprise as he tugged my knees on either side of his head. “Loki!”

“Is there a problem, darling?” he asked facetiously in between pressing little nibbles against my inner thighs where his face was now firmly cushioned.

“I can’t—you can’t—I’m too heavy. I might hurt you.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Trust me, if you were to smother me, I would prefer no other way to go out.”

I blushed and tried to wriggle away, but his arms had locked themselves around my legs by now. “That’s not funny. Let go.”

“You’re not going to hurt me, silly girl,” he chided. “I want this. I have wanted this for the longest time. Just relax and let me take care of you.”

“But Loki—”

I couldn’t get anything else out since he chose that exact moment to part those soft lips and cover the whole of me with them.

What would have been another protest instead came out in a wheezing, strained moan of “unngh!”

I scrambled to grab the sheets and shuddered as a lancing-hot streak of pleasure shot up from between my legs. Loki’s tongue took a leisurely path up from my opening and across my slick folds, eventually ending up near my clit. He sucked gently and then felt his way back down to my entrance, pushing into it with torturous intent. I grabbed a pillow and simply screamed into it with all my might, shivers flooding across my naked spine as the rough texture of his tongue inside me annihilated every single nerve ending in my body. Oh, God. Why me? Why was I letting him do this to me? I’d never last at this rate.

Loki withdrew and licked his lips with an exaggerated slurp. “Mm, there’s a good girl. Just take it.”

He angled two fingers into me next and sunk into a steady rhythm with them, his tongue stroking in time, lapping at every sensitive bit of me he could find. I tried to hold still, but I couldn’t help myself. I squirmed and rolled my hips down into the delicious pressure, moaning wantonly into the pillow as he pushed me higher and higher towards my climax.

He felt me straining to hold on and angled his mouth higher to engulf my clit in cavernous, wet heat. He curled his fingers slightly, dragging the long digits against my most precious spots, his velvet voice creeping up along my body to spread goosebumps everywhere. “Did I not tell you I would make you come this way, darling? Make you lose control? Make you scream for me? What a naughty little kitten you are, mewling for me like that.”

“L-Loki,” I stammered, angling my face out of the pillow for a second. “Please, I can’t take anymore.”

“You can,” he drawled, punctuating the statement with another kiss against my spot. “And you will. I want more of this sweet cunt. I want more of your honey on my tongue, pet. Give it to me. Give me everything.”

He sped up the pace of his fingers, so slippery from how damned wet he’d gotten me between this and the wall fucking, pressing his mouth flush to my clit. His tongue circled relentlessly around the tightened bud until I couldn’t help burying both hands in his dark hair and rocking down into him, crying out helplessly. The friction did its job in only seconds, and my spine arched as I came on his fingers, his tongue, my body seizing up from the strength of the orgasm. Loki stayed the course, but kindly slowed his fingers and his tongue as I flew through my release. I flopped to the bed in a limp heap on top of him, exhausted and elated, the world spinning around me on its axis.

Holy hell. That was what I’d been missing for six years.

I was a _fucking idiot._

Loki scooped me up enough to roll me onto my side. I lay there, dazed, panting like a madwoman. The mattress pitched under his weight as he crawled over me, chuckling softly at what I assume was my glazed over expression. He kissed the spot beneath my right breast, my shoulder, my neck, eventually nuzzling my ear. “Are you quite alright, darling?”

“Fuck you,” I slurred back, still too sex-drunk to formulate anything intelligent.

Loki laughed. “You are every bit as entertaining as you always were, pet.”

He leaned in towards my ear, whispering, “And you taste divine.”

I groaned and rolled into the pillow again, hiding the blush from him. “Shut uuuuuuup!”

“Never,” he sniffed. “You don’t really want me to anyway.”

He rolled me onto my back and spread my legs apart, his hands planted on either side of me, a smirk on his lips as he stared down at my naked, vulnerable form on the bed. “Besides, we both know the truth. Underneath all that naivete, you are a wicked girl, aren’t you?”

“I am not,” I protested.

Loki clucked his tongue as he lowered that pale, heavenly frame on top of me, aligning our bodies as much as possible. He cupped my sex with those long fingers, teasing my entrance without actually going in. “Yes, you are. Just look at how wet you are for your Loki, darling. You crave me just as badly as I crave you.”

He kissed me, his thumb rubbing over my clit in succulent circles. “And you shall have me as many times as you wish, again and again, each time more satisfying than the last. I will make you cry out with hunger for me and then I will sate you in ways that only I can.”

“Goddamn Silvertongue,” I muttered, wrapping my arms around his neck and pushing up against his cock with my hips.

“You need not fuss, darling, for you are just as tempting with that beautiful voice of yours, calling out for me as I please you. I must have more. I want you screaming tonight.”

His hand slid away just long enough for his long cock to glide in its place, filling me again, sending ecstasy hurtling through my veins all over again. My spine bowed from the sheer force of him pressing into me from above, pinning me to the bed, no escape, just him and me. A keening moan flew from my lips and into his mouth, and Loki swallowed it hungrily.

“Yes,” he rasped, digging his pelvis into my lower tummy, ensuring his cock was as deep as it could go. “Scream for me, darling. I’m going to fucking ruin you.”

He gripped my wrists and tore my arms from around his neck, slamming them down against the bed and holding them there. He sought after my throat, biting kiss marks into it as he slid out of me nearly all the way, and then sunk into a primal, rough, nearly frantic pace. I twisted in his grip to no avail and then just accepted my fate, wrapping my legs around his waist as he fucked me into the bed like a complete savage. Every thrust made its mark, arching my spine, his cock driving into my spot, filling me with the irresistible pleasure I’d been pining for. In only minutes, I felt that deep tugging at my core, my inner walls fluttering around the thick hardness of his cock all over.

“Loki, please, I’m not gonna last,” I managed through gasping breaths in between moans.

“I don’t want you to last,” he growled, claiming my lips again. “I want this sweet little cunt, pet. I want to make you melt. I know how much you want it. Claim it. Take your pleasure. Take this cock.”

I trembled from the sheer heat in his commands. “God, Loki, please, I’m so close.”

He bit my lower lip. “I know, my sweet. Now let go. I promise to catch you.”

I shuddered, undone at his words, and came again with his name on my lips. I climbed higher and higher, but as I did, a desperate need rose up inside me as well. I wound my legs tighter around Loki’s waist and used the leverage to grind down against him, adding as much pressure around his cock as possible. Loki groaned into my mouth and couldn’t help himself, fucking me harder as he felt my sopping inner walls clenching around him.

“Come, Loki,” I whispered, swiveling my hips in rhythm. “Please, Loki, please come for me.”

“Wicked girl,” he gasped out, shivering. “Not yet.”

“Yes,” I urged. “Now, Loki, please, I want you to come.”

He pressed his sweaty forehead to mine, moaning out my name as I kept going, kept pressing him inside me at just the right angle, another orgasm threatening to gush to the surface from just how hard I fucked him. He froze all of the sudden and let out a low, hungry growl of satisfaction. I cried out again, unready as he spilled his come into me, flushing my naked skin with sweet pleasure all over.

“Fuck,” he hissed, unable to help himself as he kept thrusting and thrusting, working his hips into mine until I had extracted every last drop. He collapsed on top of me, our breath mingling as we both came down from our high. I let myself sink into the comfort of his embrace and drifted off, safe and exactly where I wanted to be at last.

_Sometimes, life was nothing more than one big fat lump of bad luck._

_The staircase creaked ominously, waking me. I’d fallen asleep not long after Loki slipped in my window, which had thrown my circadian rhythm off slightly, so I didn’t react properly. Instead of jumping right to alert, I instead cracked an eyelid open enough to look at the door to my bedroom. I heard my mom call my name and then knock, and that’s when I saw it._

_The damned door wasn’t locked._

_The knob turned just as I bolted upright, about to shake Loki awake, and then spilled my mother into my room._

_“I’ve been calling you for ten minutes, now get your lazy—” She stopped dead, took one look at the half-conscious boy in my bed, and then slowly crossed her arms._

_I shut my eyes and cringed. “Oh, great.”_

_Loki sat up and gave her a helpless, guilty smile. “Good morning, dear.”_

_My mother’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Good morning, Loki. Care to explain what you’re doing in my daughter’s bed at six o’clock in the morning?”_

_“I am sure I can conjure a reason,” he continued with that same weak smile. “But I am most certain you will not believe it.”_

_She glared at the pair of us and then glanced at the window. She sighed and shook her head. “Let me guess. This has been going on for a while now, hasn’t it?”_

_Loki swung his legs over the side of the bed and held up both hands. “Please don’t be angry with her. It’s my fault. I got myself booted out of the house last night and—”_

_My mom held up a hand. “Don’t bother with the excuses, Loki. I know all too well that you have a penchant for mischief and that both you and your father have short tempers. That being said, this is unacceptable. This is my house. You need to ask permission if you’re going to sleep over and you know it.”_

_He nodded gravely. “Yes ma’am. I apologize.”_

_She blew a lock of hair out of her eyes, pursing her lips. “Good boy. I forgive you. Mostly because at least you’re not naked under there.”_

_I just about turned purple from embarrassment. “Mom!”_

_“Oh, shush,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re both at that age right now. But if I see any hickeys, I’m grounding both of you until you’re twenty-five. Get dressed. Loki, for your own health, stay down here until my husband leaves in fifteen minutes. If he finds out you slept over in her bed, he’ll strangle you to death.”_

_With that, my mother shut the door and walked back upstairs. I groaned and flopped face-first into my pillow, wishing for my own death. Loki, however, seemed unperturbed. “Well, that went better than I thought it would.”_

_“Oh, please,” I whined. “She’ll never let me hear the end of it. As soon as you leave, she’ll insist I strip down to be sure we didn’t fool around last night. Then the taunting starts.”_

_“You’ll survive, I assure you,” he said in his driest voice. “I expected her to be like other mothers and chase me out of the house with a broom, swearing vengeance.”_

_I rolled over and glowered at him, arms crossed. “Why do I let you ruin my life like this?”_

_Loki smirked and bent down over me, lashes low, his eyes filled with a playful light. “Because you love me, my dear honey bunny.”_

_He kissed my cheek. “Now get that perky little ass out of bed before we’re late for class.”_

_As promised, Loki waited until my father left and then came upstairs for breakfast. I’d also stashed some regular clothes in his drawer, so he showered after me and then we both went to school. His phone had been off the whole night, so by the time he turned it on, he had about fifty voicemails. Frigga had woken up and seen that he wasn’t home and demanded he check in once he woke up. He’d probably be grounded for the foreseeable future. Not that it meant much. Loki was a master at sneaking out of his room by now._

_After school, my mom was already home starting dinner, so I decided to just face my punishment. I tossed my backpack down and flourished my hands at myself. “Alright, let me have it.”_

_My mother remained at the counter peeling potatoes. “I’m not letting you have anything.”_

_I scowled. “Oh, really?”_

_“Really,” she sniffed. “This is typical of both of you. I’m not surprised, and technically, he didn’t break any rules. After all, boys aren’t allowed over if we’re not home and we were.”_

_I peered at her suspiciously empty expression. “You never let me off on a technicality, Mom. What’s going on?”_

_She cleared her throat, giving me a casual look before returning to the potatoes. “He cares about you, you know.”_

_“Yeah, what else is new?”_

_“And you care about him. You worry about him. You take care of him. You risk getting grounded for him.”_

_She fixed me with a look. “Is there something you need to tell me?”_

_I groaned. “For the thousandth time, Mom, we’re not dating. He’s just my best friend. And he’s got it rough right now so he’s leaning on me a little more than usual.”_

_“Literally, if last night is any indication,” she added wryly, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes._

_“It’s nothing. I promise. It’s just…Loki. He’s like that. You know how it is with both the brothers.”_

_“I do,” she agreed. “And Thor is like your big teddy bear, all hugs and squeezes and sugar. But Loki is something else. I’m not going to meddle, but you need to know that there is a reason I didn’t ground you.”_

_I threw my hands up, mystified. “What reason?”_

_She sighed and shook her head. “Okay, fine. You’re not ready yet. Just remember what I’ve said. It’ll make more sense later on. Now go wash up and then help me season the roast.”_

_I’d stomped down to my room, muttering about presumptuous parents, the meaning of that conversation not surfacing until much later in my life. Apparently, I just hadn’t been paying attention to the signs._

_And when I woke up in Loki’s arms once again, I finally understood that all roads led back to him._


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Reader's night draws to a close.

“How did you know?”

Loki’s sooty lashes lifted and he fixed me with an inquisitive look. “Hmm?”

I licked my lips, staring at him, a little terrified as I spoke up again. “How did you know you loved me back then?”

Loki studied me for a moment. He shifted onto his side to face me and trailed his fingers up my arm to my shoulder, lightly tracing aimless patterns as he answered. “The night of that meteor shower.”

My breath caught a bit. One thing about meteor showers where we had lived as kids was that they were often in such early hours that most people either didn’t know about them at all or didn’t want to be bothered getting out of bed to see them. Loki and I had hatched a plan to see them and Thor had promised to be the lookout just in case one of their parents went to check on us. Normal kids were sneaking out to parties. Not us. Just two idiots sneaking out to watch the stars.

Loki had put out a blanket for us in that secluded part Frigga’s garden and we flopped down, our voices hushed, excited discussing space travel and constellations and black holes. Then the skies cleared and the light show began. I’d remembered how awe inspiring it had been, how lucky I felt to see the nature of the universe firsthand instead of in some kind of Youtube video, how it was somehow a weird comfort to know I was just a speck in the grand scheme of things.

“That whole time,” he said. “Your eyes lit up with stardust and light. You never looked away, not once, from the splendor of the sky. It held your entire attention.”

He brushed my hair away from my cheek. “And you held mine. I had never seen such beauty. I loved your excitement for the unknown. It didn’t occur to me how strongly I felt until it was over and you went home and I came inside. Thor asked me how it was. I said, ‘she was beautiful’ instead of ‘it was beautiful’ and Thor just smiled and waited for me to notice what I’d said. I rather think he intended for this to happen after he met you.”

“Tch. I would not put it past him at all. You may be the God of Mischief, but Thor is plenty mischievous when he feels like it.” I bit my lower lip. “And thank you for telling me. It’s hard to believe that anyone could fall in love with me, let alone that it would be you.”

“And you?” he asked. “When did you know it was love?”

I swallowed hard, my voice quite small. “The night I left. I didn’t sleep a wink. I wanted to come back to you so many times. Just crawl in bed with you again and stay there forever. I’ve never cried so hard in my life. I was so scared. I wanted to love you, to be there for you, but I couldn’t stop thinking about if I hurt you, what it would do to me. All I did was just hurt you more and that was the worst part. Knowing that I loved you but I couldn’t get it out of my head that I’d just ruin everything. I never stopped thinking about you. Not once. I can’t count how many times I picked the phone up only to chicken out at the last second. I was sure you never wanted to speak to me again.”

“For a while, yes,” Loki admitted as his fingers wandered over my throat, stroking it lightly. “I loathed you to my core. I hated how vulnerable you made me feel. Thor tried to talk me into going after you a million times, but I thought I had scared you away for good. That what I had done that night was coercing you into being with me that way.”

“God,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Loki. No, it wasn’t like that at all. You know me. I speak my mind. I would have told you no if I hadn’t felt that way about you too.”

“I know. I just needed to blame myself for something when you left. I still regret how I told you. I should have waited until you were ready. Until we were ready.”

“To be fair, at least now I’m an actual woman,” I teased. “Instead of a flat-chested dork.”

“You will always be that flat-chested dork in my eyes,” he teased right back. “But I do appreciate being able to worship you in the full bloom of your beauty.”

I rolled my eyes. “God, you are so Shakespearean when you want to be, Silvertongue.”

His eyes twinkled as he leaned down to kiss me. “Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?”

I giggled. “Love hath made thee a tame snake.”

“Tame?” he murmured. His eyes glittered with sudden mischief and aggression all at once. “Is that what you think of me, pet? That you have tamed me by accepting that I love you and that you love me?”

My heart rate climbed into the zillions. I adopted a coy smirk. “Maybe.”

He leveraged his tall frame above me, straddling me, the sheets dragging lightly over my naked skin enough to make me shudder. “I assure you, my darling, that I am just as feral as the day we met. Do I need to prove it to you?”

“Nooo,” I drawled as I traced a finger down over his pecs. “Of course I know what a danger noodle you are.”

He hissed then, true to his nature, and flipped me onto my belly. I landed mostly in the pillow, smothering a giggle at how smoothly he’d done it. I was in for it now. Whatever self-preservation I had flew out the window the moment I agreed to date this man. God help me.

“Clearly I must remind you of who I am,” Loki purred. “I can’t have a naughty, disobedient pet. No, we must teach you to be my good girl.”

He sighed into my hair and whispered, “Arms behind your back, little honey bunny.”

I shivered. My childhood nickname sounded downright adorable whenever Thor said it. Loki, however, made it sound like something a wolf would say if it could talk. The syllables dripped with menace and mystery. I put my arms behind me as instructed and the bed pitched to one side. A moment later, Loki’s tie looped around my wrists. He tied a small knot, not too tight, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to wiggle out of it either.

“Now then, naughty pet, you will do as I say. Is that understood?”

I loosened a haggard sigh just to annoy him. “Yes.”

He slapped my ass on the right side, not hard, but enough that a little yelp left me. “Yes what?”

Oh, hell. Of course Loki had a dominant streak. I took a deep breath and told my ego to relax for a while. “Yes sir.”

“Mm, there’s a good girl.” Without so much as a warning, Loki slipped two fingers inside me.

I shrieked as a red-hot rush of pleasure shot up my body and crackled through all my nerves like fireworks. I tried to squirm away on my belly like an eel, but Loki caught my waist and yanked me back between his long, powerful legs so I had to stay put. He lowered that hard, lean upper torso onto my naked spine and I strangled another moan at being crowded in and pinned.

“Now I’m going to fuck you with my fingers and you cannot come until I say so. Do you understand me, darling?”

I drew a shaky breath and swallowed hard. “Y-Yes sir.”

He kissed my cheek, my jaw, my shoulder, before settling into place above me. He flexed his fingers and then withdrew, returning them slow and steady. I buried my face in the pillow that smelled of Loki and cologne and shampoo, moan after moan crawling from my throat as he fucked me with those long, slender fingers. I couldn’t help writhing against the bed, hoping that I’d satisfy him sooner rather than later, but just as my slick walls quivered around his hand, he pulled them out.

“Loki,” I pleaded.

“Ah, ah,” he chided. “Not yet, darling. Patience is a virtue.”

I grumbled uncharitable things about him under my breath. It made me feel a tiny bit better.

I heard a slurp and blushed as I realized he’d just tasted me on his fingers, the lecherous bastard. “You are so sweet, my dear. I’ll never be able to resist you.”

He buried his fingers into me again, picking up speed, and I spread my legs, pushing onto my knees. He didn’t say I couldn’t move, after all. I pushed down against his hand to shove his fingers deeper and lost all sense of time and space and common decency as his fingers grazed my spot at just the right angle.

“Oh, Loki, fuck!” Just as I reached the edge, I found myself lunging at nothing but air. Once more, the bastard had left me hanging.

“Loki!” I all but snarled.

He chuckled. “I am teaching you a lesson, remember?”

I glared at him over my shoulder. “I’m going to teach you a lesson after this is over if you keep it up.”

Loki bared his teeth in a grin. “I certainly hope you will.”

He delved his fingers in again and curled them, hunting with precision for my spot. My body dissolved into a puddle of heat. I tried not to gouge my nails into my own skin as he shifted closer between my open legs, every stroke inside me deliberate, the sadistic glee evident in his voice. “It feels so good, doesn’t it, after longing for me and I for you. Nothing to hide any longer. Just me the way you’ve always wanted me. Yours entirely.”

I gritted my teeth, trying to resist the nirvana welling up inside me. “That’s it. How much longer can you last, pet? How long before you lose control? Can you be a good girl for me, your Loki?”

My thighs clenched. I shuddered. “Loki, please.”

“Not yet,” he murmured. “Not yet, love. Just a little more.”

I shook my head frantically, unable to stop throwing my hips back against his hand. “Now. Please, Loki, please let me come. I can’t stand it any longer, please.”

“Oh, but you can,” he teased. “I want you to feel it everywhere inside you, darling. Every hidden corner. Every little crevice. I want you fit to burst with your need to come. I want you to remember how I make you feel. Focus. Focus on your pleasure, love. Let it overwhelm you.”

“Loki, please!”

He exhaled wistfully at my plea. “Yes, that’s it. Now come, darling. Come for me.”

Loki looped his arm around me to root me to the spot on the bed and then pumped his fingers into my searing wet heat faster and harder than he ever had before. My spine arched. I convulsed and drew my knees up towards my chest, my toes curling, my legs tensing. The floodgates opened. I drowned in pleasure again, moaning loud and long into the pillow, clenching my tied hands into fists as I endured the sumptuous torture of Loki’s touch. Fucking hell, it felt so good. Better than anything. I wanted to sink into him and float away forever, despite how infuriating he was.

I collapsed onto my belly, limp as a wet noodle, panting heavily in an attempt to catch my breath as I hurtled through my orgasm. Loki kindly removed the soaking digits and nuzzled my neck, dropping tiny kisses to my sweat-drenched skin. “See? I knew you could be a good girl for me.”

“Fuck off.”

He sniggered. “Oh, I shall, and when I do, it will be inside you, exactly where I belong.”

He slid closer, settling the delectable heavy body on top of me, pushing my legs further apart with his knees. His fingers slid up into my hair and drew my head back. He kissed my ear. “And now, pet, I am going to fuck you like I own you.”

Loki shoved his cock inside me. My eyes rolled back. I wriggled underneath him, still sensitive from my latest climax, groaning as my overworked pussy took his length once more. He let out a pleased rumble that reverberated through my bones. If I clenched him any tighter inside me, I’d snap like a rubber band. His cock throbbed twice, eagerly, and then he pulled out almost all the way. He adjusted himself over me, aligning us as much as possible so I felt every inch of his smooth ivory skin, felt his narrow hips press me into the mattress, felt his rushed, excited breaths against my ear. “You love it, don’t you, sweet? Being helpless beneath me. Letting me have my way with you. Do you have any idea what power you hold over me?”

He delved into me again, purring with satisfaction as he bottomed out, his pelvis crushing my soft ass up against him. “Of course you do. Tell me—did you long for me the way I longed for you when we were apart?”

I pushed up into him urgently, needing more movement, more stimulation. “I didn’t want to but I did anyway.”

Loki sunk into short, hard, steady thrusts. “Did you think of me when you pleasured this supple, beautiful little body of yours?”

I flushed with embarrassment. “S-Sometimes.”

He growled. “I can’t think of anything more alluring than my name on your lips as you teased yourself to climax. I swear you have bewitched me, pet. I tried again and again to sate myself with other women, but it was always you, darling. Only you.”

“L-Loki,” I stammered as his strokes quickened and his words stoked the furnace in my belly into an inferno. The slap of our flesh connecting only made me more restless, more needy, more sensitive. I couldn’t think about anything but how good he felt to me, how the pleasure burned through me, how I wanted him to go on using me for all eternity.

“Yes,” he rasped, sliding his hand down my side and then burying it between my body and the bed. I cried out as he circled my clit and rubbed the pad of his fingertip into it, adding that heavenly pressure I’d needed. He pressed his forehead between my shoulder blades as a guttural cry spilled from his lips. “Come for me, darling. Now. Right fucking now.”

The command coupled with his exquisite rhythm and his rough touch over my spot send me careening over the edge once more. Euphoria. Sheer euphoria. I felt it bloom through me like roses after spring rain. It consumed me body and soul, made sweeter as Loki followed me. Pride blossomed alongside the pleasure. I wanted him to feel this way with me now and always.

Our bodies cooled on the sheets. Loki hummed and kissed the spot to the left of my spine and then undid the tie. Sensation flooded back into my fingertips. I rolled over and wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing him down to my lips. He took full advantage. I was breathless by the time he pulled back and grinned, lifting an eyebrow.

“Still think I’m tame, darling?”

* * *

Most of the guests went home after the wedding, but since I was very nearly family, I was invited to the brunch the day after the event. Loki and I had done our best to make ourselves look presentable—aka as if we hadn’t spent quite a few hours fucking each other senseless—and decided for the time being not to say anything.

So, naturally, it didn’t work.

Thor’s grin stretched a mile wide as he saw me walk in and he scooped me up in his usual bear hug, squeezing the air out of my lungs until I playfully whined to be released. “Good morning, honey bunny! So glad to see you. You were supposed to text me after you arrived back to your hotel room last night, you know.”

“Sorry,” I said as I stifled a yawn. “I got…tied up.”

I mentally kicked myself. It had slipped out before I could help it. Damn me and my love of puns.

Thor squinted at me. “You seem rather tired. Did you get enough rest last night, sweetheart?”

“No,” I lied. “It’s just been a long weekend. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes,” he said, handing me a mug of coffee and trying to hide a smug smirk as he took a sip. “I suspect that you will.”

I feigned ignorance as I went for some sugar and cream. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he sniffed. “You did disappear into the garden for quite some time and then emerged a while later to bid us adieu for the evening.”

“I went for a walk. Sue me.”

I found a spoon and stirred the contents of the mug, turning to face Thor. He stared at me over the rim of his mug, his blue eyes twinkling. “And I could not help but notice Loki went after you.”

“So? We talked. Doesn’t mean anything else happened.”

Thor finally just grinned. “You are limping, honey bunny.”

I froze. Shit. “Uh…I twisted my ankle?”

He laughed. I finally just slugged him in the arm. “Oh, shut up! This is all your fault. You and your stupid meddling. Do you just want me to come out and say it?”

“Yes,” Thor said frankly. “I have waited six bloody years. Just say it, honey bunny.”

“Fine,” I growled, blushing profusely. “We…made up, okay? A lot. Like a whole lot.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Just so you know, it sounds like you’re happy that your brother got laid.”

Thor’s nose wrinkled. “Oh, heaven’s no, that’s not what I meant. I am happy that you are happy. Nothing more, nothing less.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I hate that I can’t hide anything from you.”

He winked. “You will never need to, my dear.”

Loki entered the kitchen and took one look at the two of us. Then he just let out a haggard sigh and scowled at me. “You bloody told him, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t!” I protested. “He figured it out!”

Loki growled and went for the coffee as well. “Great. Now we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Nonsense,” Thor said, stooping to kiss my forehead before he headed towards the dining room. He paused and then smiled merrily at the two of us. “You will hear the end of it once I am attending _your _wedding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming along for the ride! Pun intended! Ahahahaha I regret nothing!
> 
> Additionally, if anyone wants to give me an extra thanks, please consider below.
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/birdofhermes


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